The F in Pike
by Forgotten Conscience
Summary: Sequel to Just a College Girl, the Chosen Two try to deal with their lives now that Dawn is off at college, but the arrival of someone from Buffy's past makes things more complicated. (companion piece to Sins of the Past)
1. A River in Egypt

**The F in Pike Chapter 1**

A River in Egypt

 **Author's Note:** Again, I was forced to make it a crossover in order to make it work. Be sure to read the "disclaimer" at the end of the chapter.

 _She's on fire._

I sit on my tombstone and watch as each fist connects with its target with as much power and strength as she can put into it.

 _She's like an animal trying to brutally injure its prey before it eats it alive so it doesn't get away. Of course, she did that about 5 minutes ago. That vamp she's pounding on has been even deader on its feet for the past 2 minutes and she's still trying to beat him senseless, which happened 7 minutes ago by my count._

She hits him with a right hook for the third time in ten seconds and it sends the guy tumbling over a headstone to the ground in a heap.

 _I almost feel sorry for the dead guy. But I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. It's been this way almost every night for the past three months... ever since she left._

She goes over the vamp and picks him up, putting him back on his feet only long enough to kick him square in the gut and send him five feet to the ground.

 _She's been on a one woman rampage ever since she left and it doesn't look like it'll be letting up any time soon. And I get it. Things didn't really end on the best of terms for them. They didn't kiss and hug and cry as they saw each other off. In fact, they didn't even bother to try and see each other off. But ever since then she's been full steam ahead on almost every vamp she comes within 20 feet of. And this town isn't exactly crawling with vamps to begin with. Not like Sunnydale was._

My eyes drift over to the group of about ten girls standing not far from where I'm sitting.

 _These girls are never gonna be able to learn if they don't get a couple of decent fights in them. They've gotten a few decent punches in them each at the most. But every time any of them has any sort of trouble, if they misstep and get off balance even for a split second, then she's right in there taking charge and taking over until the vamp is a bloody mess._

Eventually, I go back to watching her beat the vamp to a pulp, which she's still busy doing.

 _I know that those are the rules and we're supposed to help them out if they get into trouble, but she's being a little liberal with the definition of trouble. It's not helping things. These girls are new to the slaying game. Not like Candy or Temika. They left for college or university about the same time as she did. These girls haven't had time to get the kind of experience that they need to be effective slayers. And they never will if she doesn't learn to let up a little._

Finally, Faith knocks the vamp down one more time before pulling out her stake and driving it with a purpose into the poor dead guy's heart. He turns to dust and Faith turns to me and the girls with a fake smile.

 _Great, finally..._

I look over at the girls and do my best to look like this was part of the plan.

"And that, ladies, for the third time tonight, is known as beating your undead opponent until they don't have the motor skills to put up a fight before staking them."

Some of the girls can't hold back from chuckling a little because they think it's funny.

 _And it is funny. It was kinda intended to be funny for those girls who don't know Faith well enough to understand what's going on, which pretty much includes all the girls since they barely know anything about her. Faith doesn't make a habit out of trusting new people all that easily. It takes a long time to really get to know her, and even then it can be a struggle. But I get why that is, even if the girls don't._

Faith starts walking back towards the group with that same fake smile.

 _She got in a decent kill tonight though. Maybe tonight she'll be a little more receptive._

"All right girls, I think that's enough for today. Go and rest up for the night. Tomorrow night could be a more active night."

 _Not likely, but I have to at least make them think it somehow. Faith isn't exactly helping in that department._

She comes up to me as the girls start to break off from each other and make their way home.

"Hey B, you sending the newbies home already?"

I shrug at my dark haired companion.

"It's getting late, and most of them have school tomorrow."

She gives me a confused look.

"Aww come on, it can't be later than 1:30."

Looking down at my watch, I check the time before showing it to her. She tilts her head to the side to see the time.

"It's almost 3 in the morning Faith."

Her face gets a both surprised and confused expression on it but then she shrugs it off.

"Okay, well a good all-nighter could do them some good. They might be doing it a lot when they actually manage to get good."

 _If they ever manage to get good at this rate..._

"Not tonight, I think it's still too early for something like that. Besides, I could use the rest myself."

I hop down off the tombstone and take a few steps towards home before facing Faith.

"Oh come on, you're not quitting on me already are you B? There's still Thornton cemetery to do. We could do it together, like the old days."

 _She really wants to beat something else up._

With a glance in the direction of Thornton, I sigh.

"Thornton almost never has any fresh graves, and the obits section was down to less than a page this week. It wouldn't be worth it."

All I can really do is shrug as I take a few more lazy steps toward home.

"Let's not and say we did, Faith. Come on, let's instead both go home."

She kinda follows me a little as I walk a little more firmly.

"What's with the little miss cranky pants routine tonight B? You and your boy toy have a fight or something?"

 _Damn, I thought she might be more talkative after a good slay._

"No, things are fine with me and Derrick, and he's my boyfriend, not my boy toy."

"Right, right... any second now I promise to remember that."

 _She didn't used to call him that. She used to talk about him like he was a person, but ever since Dawn left..._

"You can't bail on me now B. It'll take 10 minutes, tops."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather just go home."

She starts walking backwards ahead of me as I turn to walk properly where I'm going.

"What did I do, B? Did I do or say something to piss you off? Cause if I did then you might wanna fill me in because I'm drawing a blank here."

"You're fine. Just go home, get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Faith shakes her head at me.

"No way B, you haven't been this much of a wet blanket in years. What's up?"

 _All right, if she's gonna push the issue._

"Faith, this was supposed to be the girls' first real outing. At least one of them was supposed to get into it with a real vamp and hopefully get to stake one."

"Yeah, and sometimes they ain't ready for that B. These girls weren't, but at least they got a decent look at a real free range vamp this time."

I stop and face Faith fully.

"But how do you know they weren't ready exactly?"

"Hey, I've been doing this almost just as long as you have B. I think I'd know."

"Well maybe you should've paid a little more attention to their training then, cause these girls were ready. But you didn't really give them a chance to prove it. Every time one of them tried, you kinda stepped in and took over."

"I was trying to give them a hand and keep them from screwing up too badly. Those are the rules remember? You did write them yourself."

"I know, but the rules also say that we have to let them fight their own battles instead of doing it for them. Otherwise they'll wind up dead. That was one of the rules you insisted upon. I don't remember seeing you follow that rule tonight."

She rolls her eyes at me.

"All right, fine, I'm sorry okay? I got a little carried away. I won't do it next time all right?"

 _She got a little more than carried away tonight, and it's not just tonight. But if I say that then I'm only gonna end up pissing her off and making things worse. Better let everything else go for now._

"Thank you, I'd appreciate it."

Again she rolls her eyes at me.

"You're welcome."

There's a silent moment between us for a second.

"We good?"

 _For now..._

"Yeah, we're good. I'll see ya tomorrow, okay Faith?"

She stops following me and starts heading the other way.

"Sure, yeah... see ya tomorrow B."

I start heading back home but can't help but glance back in Faith's direction.

 _She's heading towards Thornton cemetery._

Part of me has to sigh in a bit of frustration at the sight.

 _Sometimes I wish we were still at each other's throats trying to kill each other. At least then she was more honest with me._

Running a hand through my hair, I take a deep breath and continue on my way. Then I reach for my cell phone and pull it out.

 _I probably shouldn't at this time of night, but he's never minded before and he knows the kinds of hours I work._

I open up my phone and speed dial Derrick's number. It rings for a few rings before he picks up.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you this late."

" _Buffy? Is everything all right?"_

"Uh, yeah, for the most part... I just called because, well, this is probably a stupid question but, are you doing anything right now?"

* * *

His arms hold me firmly and I can't help but feel safe and warm in them.

 _I really needed this._

I get comfortable in his arms and takes a long deep breath.

 _I just kinda wish it didn't have to be this late._

"I'm really sorry about this Derrick."

He kisses me on the top of the forehead.

"You're sorry about asking me to come over and hold you in the middle of the night? I must be doing something wrong."

That makes me laugh a little bit.

"Heh, no, I meant... you're doing really well with the holding part. It's mostly the middle of the night part that I'm sorry about. I know you have work in the morning and you need your sleep, but I was feeling kinda needy and..."

A gentle hand strokes my cheek and I turn my head up to look at him.

"Don't worry about it. I know the kind of hours you work, and your job doesn't exactly lend itself to a low stress, low impact environment. I'm a man of the new millennium, I understand."

 _He's so great._

Making sure not to ruin the hold he has on me, I wiggle myself up enough to give him a kiss on the lips.

"Thank you."

Derrick smiles at me happily and I go back to burying myself in his arms.

"No problem..."

We lie together in silence for a while.

"Plus, there's no way I'm passing up an opportunity to lie in bed with my girlfriend at her place, pajamas or no pajamas."

Again I have to laugh at his words for that.

"Well, I promise, you've earned yourself a night of non-pajama fun for this."

 _And he so has._

"Either works for me, but that's good to know."

 _He's been so understanding about the whole slayer gig thing. It makes dating him so much easier then it probably would be otherwise. The fact that it turns out his little sister is a slayer probably helped a little in that department. It gave me the chance to open up the slayer topic without looking like a freak science experiment or something. He started talking to me about the weird bursts of strength and speed that his sister was having all of the sudden and how he was worried that she might be sick or dying or something. Naturally, my slayer-senses were tingling, I made one call to Giles, and the proof was in the seers eyes._

 _It took him about a month or two to get used to the idea that both his sister and his girlfriend were both slayers and it made things rough for us for a while, but eventually he came around to convincing his parents to let Trina enroll in my after-school classes. That also kinda forced a jump ahead in our relationship, since his parents insisted on meeting me to make sure I wasn't some kind of whack job or scam artist or something. But they're actually really nice people and I think I made a good impression, as a teacher and as a girlfriend. At the very least, they know I'm not nuts, which I'd take as a check in the plus column any day of the week._

 _They were less impressed with the impression Faith made on them, but she kinda did that intentionally I think, and I'm pretty sure they were more understanding when I explained later on that she was going through some stuff, relationship-wise. So I think in the end it came off as even though we're slayers, we're still human beings with problems. That's something important that they needed to know too. I just wish that Faith had found a less hostile way of proving that to them._

His chest rises and falls against mine in that really soothing way that it does.

"So, did you want me to just hold you all night or did you want to tell me what has you so stressed out?"

I take a deep cleansing breath and hold him a little tighter.

"It's Faith..."

He lets out his own deep breath.

"Again eh?"

 _I feel kinda bad putting this on him again._

"Yeah... she did it again tonight. She pretty much ruined the first field trip we had planned for Trina and the girls."

"Well, you know how I feel about my sister fighting and everything, but she's pretty gung-ho about it so I know she'll need the experience. Have you tried talking to Faith about it?"

He adjusts himself on the bed and I readjust myself to be comfortable.

"I kinda tried tonight, but after the way things ended the last time, I decided to give my chin a bit of a rest this time."

There's a few moments where neither of us says anything.

"Well, what can you do about it?"

Another deep cleansing breath is needed at this point.

 _This is the part I don't like._

"Honestly? I've been thinking about maybe asking her not to come on the next outing with me and the girls. But I don't want to do that, because that would be like leaving her out in the cold. And with our history and the things that she's going through lately, I really think that has to be the worst idea ever."

"Yeah, I still feel bad about you telling me about Faith's past and asking me not to tell her I know. But with the way she's been acting, I kinda get why it's best for me to keep it a secret. As for what to do about Faith, you're right, leaving her alone is probably not the best idea in the world. And if talking to her is out of the question, then maybe there's a different approach you could take."

I move to look up at him again.

"Did you have something in mind?"

He kinda shrugs with me in his arms.

"I don't know. I was thinking about it the other day, and maybe here isn't the best place to get Faith to open up about her problems."

 _Not here?_

"Sorry, what?"

"Well, Faith and Dawn have a lot of history in this town. They were together for almost a year and a half or something, if you count the time they were broken up and got back together. Maybe every time she looks around this town, she's reminded of Dawn in some way and it makes her clam up the way she's prone to doing."

 _He does have a point there. They did go somewhere almost every night together here. Maybe if we got away from here for a day or two I could get her to open up._

"I could take her over to Trentville where the demons have a little more fight in them and there are a couple more to shake a stake at. She likes when we do that sometimes."

"Sure, get away from here for a while and see if that helps any."

 _It's a great idea, if she'll go for it anyway. But with her need to pound on something bigger and badder lately, I don't see why she wouldn't._

"That could work. Plus I wouldn't mind getting my hands on something big and hard. Thanks..."

 _I think that came out worse than I thought it would._

He smiles at me as we kiss softly.

"No problem... although you don't really need to go out of town for something big and hard."

The smile turns into a grin and I kinda blush when he says that cause I know I walked right into it.

"That's true..."

With my hands firmly around his stomach, I pull myself to him, pressing my hips against his and rubbing my right leg between his. He keeps grinning at me when I take my right arm from around his stomach and start to slide my hand down his stomach to where our hips meet. I can feel his hardness against me and that makes my own smile turn into a grin.

"I thought you were saving the non-pajama fun for another night?"

Then I grab the sheets and throw them up over my head as I make my way downward on the bed.

 **End of Chapter 1**

Hey guys,

I just wanted to post this and explain a little something about this fic so that people don't get confused. First, this is a continuation of "Just a Girl" and "Just a College Girl". It picks up where the second one left off. This fic explains a certain amount of what happened before to get to this point, but not all. If you really wanna understand everything, you should read the whole thing from the start.

But also, because this is important and pretty relevant to even those who've been reading from the beginning, I wanted to mention that this part of the story has a little too much scope to be told in one story. So I'm posting it in two. The other is called "Sins of the Past" and what happens in that fic will affect this one, and vice versa.

That being said, I'm doing my best to tell each of them as separate stories. You SHOULD be able to read one without reading the other, but it's better if you read both. So anyway, just wanted to put something out there that makes sure that everything will make sense for everyone.


	2. Left, Right, and Away

**The F in Pike Chapter 2**

Left, Right, and Away

 _How do I tell her?_

Walking along the edge of the training mat at our dojo, I watch our slayers running through the training drills we've set out for them, my companion slayer walking along the other edge watching our slayers just as intently for any signs that their form might be off kilter so we can correct them if needed.

 _I can't just come out and say it. She's too defensive and shut down for that. If I tried the direct approach, it could only end up making things worse. She might withdraw from me completely and I'd lose what leverage I have to get her to talk to me now, which really isn't much at all. Pretty much the only thing that's keeping us together and talking right now is this job, and the slaying._

One of the girls slips from position near the middle of the group.

"Hold it..."

All of them stop and so does Faith, who looks in my direction.

"Kerry..."

I weave between the girls up to Kerry and help her readjust her footing.

"You're a little off-center there, but you're doing well so far. Keep it up."

As I walk back to the outside of the mats, I glance over at Faith for a second, seeing a slightly tired and a little angry expression on her face. She catches my gaze and I give her a little smile to show her I'm not trying to scold her for anything. So she smiles back half-heartedly.

 _But even this job is starting to weigh on her these days too. I can see it in her eyes. It's the same kinda look I could see in the mirror back in Sunnydale when the slaying gig got too much for me. I used to ask myself why I still did it and why I didn't just quit and take up sunbathing or something. It would always be the easier path to take, and Faith's always been a fan of the easier path. But I kept coming back to it because in the end it was really the only thing that got me through the day. And I think that's the reason why Faith keeps coming back to it._

 _That won't last forever though. I gave up once too, and Faith could if she really wanted to. There are so many of us now to carry on the slayer legacy, and even more taking up saving the world every day. We aren't really needed anymore to keep the world spinning, and sometimes it would be easier to just hang up the spurs and go riding into the sunset. Except it keeps us living from day to day, sometimes it's the only reason to get up in the morning. I haven't felt that way in years, but after everything that Faith's been through with Dawn, I can imagine that those thoughts are probably running through her head right now._

 _They loved each other a lot and it ended badly. I've been through that. I went through it with Angel, I went through it with Riley, and I went through it with Spike in a lot of ways too. It leaves you with a lot of bad feelings that you just don't wanna deal with. It eats you up inside if you don't deal with it until it makes you feel like there's nothing left inside you at all. And the only thing that makes you feel better is knowing that you're not alone. You have people to turn to. I can be that person for Faith._

Faith barks out an order at one of the girls.

"Trudy, your right cross is dropping too much at your shoulder. I can see it coming a mile away. Clean it up."

 _I would be that person for Dawn too, if she would let me. But she won't. She chose to go off to college to get away from her problems, even though I tried repeatedly to stop her. For six weeks straight before she left, I tried to confront her one way or another, trying to get her to stop going off to college without dealing with her feelings. But no matter what I tried, no matter how I approached her, she wouldn't listen. I even went so far as to try and hold her down while I yelled at her. But you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. And Dawn didn't want to be helped, so I had to let her go._

 _Now all I'm left with is Faith. Not that I wouldn't want to help Faith if Dawn were around and asked for help. Faith's my friend, and I would try to help her in any way I can, but Dawn's my sister. I have a responsibility to her because she's family, and Mom always taught me that family always comes first. But I don't have any family around to help, and I can't just throw away all my responsibilities here to go help Dawn, that would leave Faith and the rest of the girls here out in the cold. I can't do that to them. I have a responsibility to them, and to Faith as my friend and co-worker._

 _So instead I'll have to help Faith and hope to hell that Dawn finds a way to work her issues out on her own. If only I could figure out a way to get Faith to come on this trip with me to Trentville without making it seem like I have some ulterior motive or something. Because even though I do, Faith probably won't go if I tell her the truth behind the trip. She doesn't want to deal with her problem, and until I can get her to admit that she should, I'm only gonna end up giving her a reason to withdraw from me and everyone else. I can't let that happen. I've seen what happens when Faith withdraws from people and I know it doesn't end well. It wouldn't be like last time, I know that, but it wouldn't be good._

 _I just have to get her to come with me. If I can get her to come on this trip with me, then I know I can get her to open up to me and start dealing with her problems. It's not gonna be easy though. She's kinda angry at me I think. I'm not completely sure, but I think she blames me a little for Dawn going. I made the mistake of telling her that Dawn was leaving for college way too late. After I made that last ditch effort to try and get Dawn to stay by talking to Faith and seeing if she could get Dawn to stay if they talked. It was a long shot and knew it would probably blow up in my face, which it did, but I had to try something and I was running out of ideas. Faith was nowhere near the right head space to be talking to Dawn and she wouldn't do it. I think now she kinda blames me for letting Dawn leave and avoid her problems. For all the anger and pain Faith has towards Dawn, she loves her and only wants what's best for her._

 _That's something else we're gonna have to talk about over the weekend trip if we can get to it. All I have to do is find a way to get her there._

Faith suddenly yells out again.

"Trina!"

As I'm looking to see what's wrong with Trina's form, I see her legs fly up out from under her and come crashing down to the mat floor.

"Ow!"

Faith looks down at her on the floor.

"That's what happens to you when your posture is off. You might wanna do something about that."

 _What the hell?_

I march over to Faith as she holds out her hand to Trina and helps her up.

"Faith, come on, that was low."

"Can't get much lower than the balls of the feet B..."

"You know what I mean, you..."

Suddenly I'm very aware of the rest of the girls still holding in their training positions, most of them looking in our direction or trying not to look in this direction.

"Let's take five girls, recharge your batteries with a drink or something and we'll get back to it in a minute."

They all start to break off from training and I turn to Faith.

"I need to talk to you."

Grabbing her by the wrist, I head for the back room, bringing her along with me. When we're far enough into the room to not be heard that well because of the sound proofing, we face each other again.

"That was too far Faith. Tripping up a girl? Come on..."

She puts up that defensive posture of hers.

"What? I was trying to prove a point. Besides, are you sure that you're not just getting bent out of shape because it was your boy toy's sister that I tripped up?"

 _I hate it when she says it that way._

"Faith, I've asked you before. Could you please show my boyfriend a LITTLE respect and not call him that? Not to mention, if Trina ever heard you talking about him like that, she'd slug you and possibly quit coming. She's too good a slayer to stop coming over an argument. Beside, I don't talk about your exes like that."

"That's cause my only real ex is your sister."

 _Okay, that's it._

Pulling my fist back, I let it go as hard as I can, letting it connect with Faith's jaw. The punch sends her to the ground because she wasn't expecting it.

"Ow! What the fuck B?"

All I do is shrug at her.

"I was just trying to make a point F."

She wipes her lip to make sure it's not bleeding, which it's not, before getting up slowly.

"All right, fine, point taken. I went a little overboard with the training. I'll be better about it from now on."

"I'd appreciate that. But look, I think I know why you've been going a little overboard with it lately."

"Do you?"

Faith crosses her arms over her chest with a curious expression.

"Yeah, I think I do. You're frustrated."

"I thought you didn't like talking about sex with me B. Or at all even."

 _Oh great..._

"Okay first, I wasn't talking about sex. Second, that was a hell of a long time ago and I've changed, and third, I don't think not wanting to talk about sex with the woman who was 'involved' with my sister is too much to ask."

Her arms come apart but she stays curious.

"All right..."

"What I was saying, was that there's a reason why you went over to Thornton cemetery last night instead of going home right away. The vamps here just aren't cutting it anymore. It's hard to get a decent fight out of them before you have to stake them. I know. I've been feeling it too lately."

"You're right about that."

"So, let's go somewhere else then. We usually go over to Trentville at least once a year anyway. Why don't we go this weekend or something?"

For a few moments, she thinks about it.

"I could definitely use a decent fight or two, and I do always manage to find at least one when we go there."

She pauses for a second.

"Do you wanna tell the girls or should I?"

 _Great..._

* * *

 _Okay... so, what do I bring?_

Staring down at my suitcase, I marvel at the emptiness of it sitting there on my bed.

 _I never know what to bring on these things. And I never know what to wear either. It's always hard to predict demon fighting. Trentville goes through almost random stages of demon population shifts. Within a year it'll go from vampire infestation, to slime demons, to Brachias, and Chornakins, before going back to vampires again. And we never know for sure which is which until we get there. It's almost like a hellmouth, except it's not, we checked._

 _But the downside is that it makes planning and accessorizing for a trip like this almost impossible. I guess I have to plan for everything. You'd think it'd get easier to do after all these years of demon fighting, but apparently not. Plus, that also leaves the question of what to wear. I'll probably have to bring a couple of outfits to plan for randomness. I'll need something light that I can move in while fighting demons, but also something that looks good in a club or a bar because Faith always likes hunting down demons and other things in clubs when we go to Trentville. They tend to hang out there for some reason._

 _On top of that, I have to have something that I can sleep in, something to wear around the hotel room when I'm just hanging out, and also something good for heart to heart talks. That's actually the most important part since it's kinda the reason I wanna go on this trip with her. I'll probably have to mix and match somehow in case it happens on patrol or in a club or something. Which of course makes choosing what to wear even harder to choose, but I'll figure something out I guess._

I walk over to where my weapons chest is and open it up.

 _And I'll bring something for the demons too._

Reaching into my weapons chest, I pull out a couple of my good stakes and Mr. Pointy for good luck.

 _I'm still surprised that Faith decided to go on the trip in the first place. We haven't been on the best of terms lately, and I would think she'd hate the idea of spending a weekend with me fighting vamps and other demons. But she accepted no problem. Well, okay, not no problem, we kinda had to fight about it for a second, but she did accept. I guess it's true what Dawn used to say about us. Whenever things get rough, we fight it out, maybe exchange a few fists in the process, and that some how helps us work it out too. It's weird, but for some reason it works for us. Plus, my life has never really been anything close to normal._

Stuffing my stakes into my duffle bag, I stop for a second, taking a deep breath.

 _Dawn... that's going to be the toughest part about this whole trip. Once Faith actually manages to open up, I'll have to bring up the subject of Dawn. And that's not going to be an easy conversation for either of us. I think I can understand where she's coming from though, at least on some level. She was my sister after all. I love her, and I miss her a lot. Maybe not in the same way that Faith does, but I do. That will at least give me some way of relating to her on this. And that's something at least._

With another deep breath, I look into my weapons chest.

 _At least it's something._

 **End of Chapter 2**


	3. What's Past is Past is Present

**The F in Pike Chapter 3**

What's past is past is present

 **Author's Note:** I am going to be busy this weekend at a convention so you might get a chapter of She Who Was My Love before Saturday, my regular posting schedule.

The rumble of the wheels against the road makes the car shake, almost like a constant shiver, as we drive along the road together.

 _Damn car... I know it was the best I could afford with my income, and I barely use it since just about everything is in walking distance of where I live, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hate it. It's slow, it breaks down easily, and the suspension is bad. If it weren't for these trips that we take and the fact that Dawn is now at Stanford a couple hundred miles away, I probably would've sold this hunk of junk a while back._

 _But I can't. Trentville is too far away to walk, and Stanford is too short a distance to be flying there, which would probably cost more than it would to drive there anyway. So I guess I just have to suck it up and keep this car going. It may not be perfect, but I need some way of getting to Dawn if she ever needs me._

 _Not that she would ever actually ask for my help at this point. I haven't heard a single word from her since the moment she left, and that wasn't exactly the best moment either. There were no teary goodbyes at the airport, no endless acts of hugging and talk of how I'm only a phone call or an email away. Well, at least not from her anyway. I kept trying to hold back the tears and not babble too much at the idea of her leaving. It was hard though. No matter whatever else might be going on, she's still my little sister and she's going off to college. That's kind've a big deal._

 _Mom made a big deal of the day that I went off to college, and I was only going a couple miles out of town. She was kind've a mess every time she'd pass by my room and see me packing for college, but in a sort've happy way. She'd always smile and sometimes she'd just stand in my doorway and watch me for no particular reason in that non-creepy way that she always used to do. And I guess now I understand why._

 _I only wish that Dawn's leaving could have been as happy an experience as mine was. Every day leading up to her going got more and more tense. She just kept getting more and more distant as time went on. I'm not sure why. Dawnie and I hadn't been getting along that great for the past few months, but it feels like something's changed. Like there's something I've said or done that made her clam up whenever I'm around._

 _The more I asked her about it, the less she talked to me. We've always had trouble talking, but this time is different somehow. She's not going to tell me what's wrong this time._

Looking over at the passenger in my car with me, I take a deep breath before going back to watching the road.

 _So I'll just have to try and talk to the one person in the world who might know._

With a glance over at Faith again, I kinda have to smile at the sight of her. Faith sees it and gives me a curious look.

"What?"

I just shrug back at her.

"It's nothing..."

She lets out this slightly annoyed breath and goes back to staring out the window the way she has been for the past hour or two of the car ride. Her expression is all but blank.

 _Okay, maybe that was a little harsh of me. I've barely said a word to her the whole ride, and she's been quiet the whole ride. And the way she looks doesn't exactly make me think she's happy about it, despite where we're going. I should probably do something about that. I'll never get her to open up and talk if I shut her out the entire ride._

"It's just that..."

She looks my way and I try to smile back without taking my eyes off the road for too long.

"This is, kinda funny."

"What's that?"

"This..."

Again she looks at me, this time with a slightly un-amused look on her face.

"Us... this you and me thing... it's funny."

All she does is keep giving me a bit of a glare with the look of confusion coming through.

"I just mean, a couple of years ago, I never would've done this with you, gone away on a trip together, and especially not alone."

"Really..."

"Yeah, I... up until that last time in Sunnydale, I was pretty much convinced that you were out to stab me in the gut like I did to you the second I turned my back like some paranoid freak."

Faith mostly just sits in her seat while I talk.

"It's only paranoid if it's not true B."

Looking over at Faith, I give her a questioning look. She smiles back with a bit of a mischievous grin and shrugs like she couldn't help it or something.

 _Okay..._

"Well, anyway... look at us now. We work together, live in the same town without constantly trying to bash each other's brains in, and we're actually taking trips together every so often. You might even call us friends."

Neither of us says anything to that.

"I just think it's funny how life turns out sometimes. Who would've thought you and me would become friends like this?"

"Well I can definitely say I wasn't counting on it myself. I figured you'd dump me off on the side of road somewhere if you didn't have me thrown back in jail or something."

I shake my head gently at the statement.

"I could never do that to you."

There's silence from her side of the car for a second and I glance over at her to see she's got this 'I don't believe that for a second' kinda look on her face.

 _All right that was obvious._

"Okay so maybe I thought about it twenty or thirty times. But you know, you helped out with The First and with all the after planning so I figured I owed you at least a chance to prove you changed. And you did. I never would've..."

 _Wait, that's probably not the best subject to bring up for the moment._

"Never mind..."

"What?"

"It's not important."

"Come on B, what? You wanted to talk and share, so share."

"I..."

With a short pause to take a breath, I glance over at her long enough without crashing the car.

 _Gotta make sure she won't take this the wrong way. She'd probably figure it out if I tried to cover it up somehow._

"Well... I never would've let you go near Dawn if I hadn't seen the better side of you long before then."

Suddenly, she gets this upset and slightly angry look on her face.

"Right... so how much longer until we get there do you think?"

 _Damn, walked head first right into that one. Stupid mistake, of course, that's what I'm good at so I shouldn't be surprised._

"Uh, I don't know. Twenty minutes I think."

"Thank god I'm relying on your navigational skills this time. You've only done it 6 or 7 times over the past 4 years."

 _I could probably point out the obvious fact that she's done the driving the other 8 times we've made this trip in those years and shouldn't need my help with the timeline. But I think I've pushed the envelope of our typical conversation enough for now._

"Don't worry, we'll get there."

She gives me a slightly playful scoff.

"Sure..."

I just keep driving rather than comment. We both stay quiet.

 _That's just great. I tell myself I'm gonna ease my way into the subject of Dawn with her on this trip and I go and blurt out her name before we even get where we're going... great job helping out._

Taking a deep breath without acting like I'm trying to calm myself down, I keep driving.

 _Well, at least the subject is out of the bag now. It's the giant pink elephant standing in the room while out, but at least it's out. I'll just try and avoid talking about it for a while and come back to it later. There's a plan. I only hope I can stick to this one._

 **End of Chapter 3**


	4. Friends and Other Things

**The F in Pike Chapter 4**

Friends and Other Things

 _So far so good..._

A fist flies at my face, hitting me hard in the jaw. It forces me to take a half step back and readjust my footing, taking deep breaths in the process.

 _I think anyway._

I pull my own fist back and send it forward, hitting the vamp just as hard in the jaw but it sends him back stumbling a couple of steps.

 _We've barely been here twelve hours and already we've run into at least 20 vamps. And the first six hours was just us checking in and getting settled so we could wait for the sun to go down._

He comes at me again but I'm ready for him this time with a quick one-two punch followed by a side kick that sends him crashing into the concrete wall of the alleyway before falling to the ground on his back.

 _It's actually a lot of fun. I can't remember the last time I managed to get an actual fight out a vamp._

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pull out my stake as he rolls away from me long enough to get up.

 _Probably the last time I came here, which has to be at least more than six months ago. Almost makes me miss living in Sunnydale... wow, never thought I'd have that feeling._

The vamp comes at me one last time, this time very unsure of himself and I use the opportunity to throw a spinning back fist to his face before plunging the stake right into his heart. He explodes into dust right in front of me as I step back to minimize the dust I get on my clothes.

 _I must be having a REALLY good time if I'm having good feelings about slaying vamps in Sunnydale, either that or I'm having a psychotic episode._

My eyes head in the direction of the sounds of fighting further down the alley. It's darker because most of the lights have been either been knocked out or burnt out for one reason or another. I walk towards the fighting slowly to let my eyes adjust the way I'm sure Faith's already have. All I hear are the sounds of fists connecting as a flickering light further down the alley gives me glimpses of the fight. Then all of the sudden when I get pretty close to the fight, I see the vamp get in a lucky kick and Faith comes tumbling in my direction.

 _Oh, crap..._

When she runs into me, I grab her around the waist and try to turn us to put her between me and the ground but she puts her hands against my shoulders and the weight that goes into that, forces me down first. She lands on top of me and I land on the cold, hard, slightly damp ground.

 _Ow, I hate it when she does that. We may both be slayers, but she's still got a weight advantage on me. I'll have to tease her about that later._

I look up at her and she's got this grin on her face.

"You should watch where you stand B. If you're not careful, you might actually get hurt."

Letting go of her, I shift my body weight back and forth to try and get her off me and eventually she rolls away and gets back up to fight. After she starts fighting the vamp with a combo of left and right punches, I get myself up slowly to watch now that my eyes are pretty much adjusted fine.

"Or you could try not falling, I hear it's nice and I'd like to try it."

She kicks the vamp in the gut and he stumbles, not attacking right away, which just naturally gives her the opportunity to look over at me and do more grinning.

"Yeah but where would be the fun in that?"

Faith goes back to fighting and I just roll my eyes at her, checking my outfit for anything tragic.

 _Looks fairly clean, and I don't think I ripped anything. Well there's a first._

"I don't know. I'd have to try it first to find out."

With a few more fists to the face, Faith finally gets around to actually staking the vamp and he turns to dust just like all the others. She makes her way over to me.

"Well, let me know what it's like, cause it sounds like bores-ville to me. But then you always did have a thing for it."

Again I roll my eyes at her.

 _At least she's having fun. That was kinda the point of coming out here, plus it'll probably make future conversations easier._

Faith stretches out a few of her joints as we both turn to the street at the end of the alley.

"That's why I keep you around F, to make sure I don't die of boredom, because it's not like the life of a slayer gives me any problems."

She playfully punches me in the arm while we make it to the end of the alley and start walking down the street.

"Damn right..."

We walk down the sidewalk together on our non-specified destination patrol. She puts her stake into her back pocket as we go.

"So, what do you say tomorrow we see if we can't find ourselves a nest? That way we can really let loose?"

I take a few seconds to think about it and shrug.

"Well, letting loose would kinda depend on the nest I think, but I'm game if you are."

She smiles at me for a second and I sorta smile back.

"Cool... it's been too long since I had a decent knock down drag out fight with a nest of vamps."

Opening my jacket, I stuff my stake back into my inside pocket.

"Just make sure I don't end up getting drowned again. I hate it when that happens."

My traveling buddy kinda chuckles at me.

"No promises... hey, I'm starting to feel a little hungry, how bout you?"

 _Hmm..._

"I guess I kinda am feeling that urge."

 _Oops..._

She looks over at me with a big grin on her face and I'm pretty sure I know exactly what she's thinking. So I shove her back.

"The urge to eat, with the food that's edible? Not the urge that you're thinking about. That urge is firmly under control thank you very much."

Faith keeps grinning as she looks forward at where we're going.

"Well as long as you've got a firm grip on it."

 _She always does that._

Again I shove her away from me.

"Shut up Faith... I'm the one with the boyfriend remember?"

Her smile slowly fades after what I said.

 _Damn it... that couldn't have been more stupid. Can't I go 12 hours without saying something stupid?_

"Yeah... right..."

 _Okay, that's bad, changing the subject would probably be a good idea._

"Uh... so, you wanna go over and see if that diner is still standing since we were here last? What was the name?"

The woman I used to think of as my enemy thinks about it for a second.

"Chrissy's, I think... but I'm not really in the mood for something that greased up tonight. Might be better to call it a night and order some room service."

 _She doesn't wanna keep patrolling?_

"Are you sure?"

She sorta half shrugs, never really looking at me.

"We did some serious damage to the vamps tonight. I'm up for packing it in if you are."

"Uh, okay..."

Faith and I start heading back towards the hotel.

 _Gee, didn't I find a way to bring down the mood in a hurry? Just great..._

"Sure, I can live with letting the vamps live for another night."

Then we just start walking along in silence together towards the temporary home we call a hotel.

* * *

Finally the line picks up and he's on the line.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, it's me."

" _Buffy..."_

The way his voice picks up when he hears my voice makes me smile a little.

"Yeah, I was just calling to see how everything is back home."

" _Pretty quiet mostly. Most of the girls are disappointed they aren't going to get a chance to do any real patrolling until you get back, but I don't think it's anything that will need a stirring speech or a strong warning when you get back."_

 _That's good, they're following the rules._

"Okay, good... but you and Trina are still keeping an eye on them right?"

" _Of course... so when are you getting back?"_

"Hard to say at this point, why? Do you miss me?"

" _Do I miss having a woman as beautiful and gentle and sexy as you lying next to me in bed? No, of course not why would I miss that?"_

I kinda have to smile and chuckle a little at what he says.

"Well I'll try to get back as soon as I can. But I need to get Faith to talk to me first. Get her past whatever's bothering her so she can move on. Maybe have a good cry about it."

There's silence over the phone for a few seconds.

" _Faith?"_

 _He's got a point._

"You're right, maybe the crying part is too much to expect. I mean it's Faith after all."

He doesn't say anything and I sorta roll over on my comfy hotel bed, letting my head drop to the side so I'm looking at the door to our adjoining rooms.

"It would be nice though, in a strange kinda way."

" _What's that?"_

"To see her cry about her problems for once, to know that she wasn't some stone cold slayer. I mean, I've seen her in some weak moments over the years, but in the entire time I've known her, I've never seen her cry about anything."

" _So, you wanna try and make her cry?"_

"Not intentionally, obviously, but, well... whenever I've had a relationship fall apart, I cried about it. But Faith, she just seems really angry."

" _Maybe she did cry about it and you just don't know."_

"Maybe, but... once you cry about something, you don't usually get angry about it. You kinda let it go. And I don't really see any letting go in Faith. If I knew that she cried over Dawn or at least wanted to talk about what happened with someone then I'd feel better about leaving her to deal with everything on her own. But ever since it happened it's almost like she's just bottled it all up and that has me worried."

" _Well, you're doing the best thing you can right now."_

"Really? Cause right now it feels like I'm doing nothing."

My boyfriend on the other end of the hotel's line lets out a short laugh.

" _You're there for her, showing her that you weren't just her friend because she was dating your sister. That isn't nothing. That's something."_

Running a hand through my hair while holding on to the phone with the other, I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling as I let my head fall over the side of the bed.

"I guess... I just hope it's enough. I really wanna be able to help her."

Something about the way the moment of silence is over the phone makes me think that he's smiling at what I just said.

" _I know. You always want to help the people who matter to you. It's one of the things I... uh, it's one of the things that makes me care about you so much."_

There's a little bit of an uncomfortable silence because of the way he hesitated for a second.

"Right, well... thanks for listening. You have no idea how much I appreciate the fact that someone doesn't think I'm crazy."

" _No problem..."_

After another couple moments of uncomfortable silence, I take a deep breath.

"I should probably get some sleep. We're planning on finding a nest or something tomorrow and I'm expecting a pretty big fight."

" _Okay, get some rest. And make sure you're careful tomorrow."_

I smile at his concern.

"I will. Night..."

" _Goodnight..."_

A click on the phone makes me pull the cordless hotel phone away from my ear and press the hang up button before dropping it on the bed next to me. Closing my eyes, I take another deep breath that ends in a sigh.

 _He almost said it again. This is starting to get more awkward. Every time he tries but stops himself I feel kinda guilty. I know he wants to say it, but I think I'm holding him back. I've been holding him back for a while. Ever since we had that conversation back on our... sixth date I think it was, when I realized that things were starting to move into serious territory. I had to. I didn't want this to be like the rest of my relationships. I wanted it to be different. So I had to tell him all about where I was._

 _I had to tell him about how I wasn't looking for anything serious or long term, but that I wouldn't hate it if it went that way. I just wasn't interested in it right then. And I'm still not. At least, I don't think I am. I honestly don't know where I am in a relationship-y sense anymore. But I do know that Derrick was probably gonna say that he loves me for the way I always try to help people, and for some reason that scares the hell out of me. Mostly because I'm not sure that I could say it back to him if he did._

 _I'd kinda like to. But I'm just not sure that I feel the feelings behind the words, and I wouldn't want to say them to him and not mean them. That would be leading him on. I know I care about him, and I like being with him, but what he and I have is completely different then all of my other relationships, so I don't know if that makes it love or not. What we have isn't wild and passionate and painful like the way things were with Angel, or Spike. But it's not almost normal and simple the way things were with Riley._

 _We're in some sort've weird middle place, except it feels totally natural and non-weird. There's definitely this feeling between us that makes me wanna be touching every time we're within touching distance of each other the way it was with Angel, and sorta with Riley and Spike. But the sex doesn't involve ripping and biting and the pulling of muscles the way it did with Spike, and the way I always wanted to try with Riley. The sex is good though. Sometimes it can be really good if we're both in the mood._

 _But despite the good sex, I still feel like I can talk to him about anything the way I can with Xander or Willow. Of course... I don't want to have sex with Xander or Willow, but I do with Derrick. Geez, no wonder it's so hard to figure out how I feel about him. I have no idea how to feel about him._

With a sigh, I roll over onto my stomach and find myself staring at the TV in front of me.

 _I need to stop thinking about this for a while. Maybe I should watch some TV or something. What time is it?_

Looking over at the clock, I notice it's almost 2am.

 _That's weird. It's been at least 30 minutes since I ordered food from room service. I know it's late, but they're usually pretty quick about the food around here, even at this time of night. I wonder if I should call down and find out._

My eyes move to the door that joins Faith's room to mine.

 _I wonder if Faith's gotten hers yet. I know she didn't just go right to bed after the kinda slays we had tonight._

Getting up off the bed, I head over to the door.

 _If she got hers, then maybe I can mooch off her until my food comes. Then I'll let her mooch back. That's friendly, I'm sure it'll help._

I reach the door and gently knock.

"Hey Faith?"

 **End of Chapter 4**


	5. Nesting Instincts

**The F in Pike Chapter 5**

Nesting Instincts

The air in the place instantly changes the second we walk through the front door together and everyone and everything in the place looks right at us in quiet fear/awe.

 _I never know how to feel about that. It's been happening to me in demon bars all over the world for almost my entire slayer life and I still don't know what to feel when it happens. The way they all just seem to know when I'm coming and expect it so they all turn to see what I'm gonna do when I come in. I've felt it all. At first it was really weird and uncomfortable to have them all staring at me every second I was inside the four walls waiting for me to do something. Then it was kinda cool to know that I had the kinda power to inspire a room full of fear just by walking through the door and invading their personal space._

 _Then things went back to uncomfortable before heading into feeling like it gave me a reason to start a bar fight and kill a whole bunch of them, and then there was the cool feeling territory again. Right now it's a little of both uncomfortable and cool._

"Relax boys and demons. We're just here for a quiet drink. No need to get bent about it."

 _Faith has a handle on it apparently though._

They all sorta go back to whatever I'm sure disgusting thing they were in the middle of doing before we came in. Part of me relaxes the tense muscles I didn't even know I was tensing as we make our way towards the main bar.

 _Of course, Faith likes to think that she's got a handle on a lot of things, but I have a habit of knowing better. I'm just hoping that tonight will give me a chance to help her get a firm grip on a few things she probably thinks she has control of. Or at least open the door to. If we can find a decent nest, get in a serious brawl, and hopefully both come out alive, then I think I can get her to open up. I just hope that last night was an indication of a thriving vamp community that sprung up since we were last here._

Faith turns to me as we get to the bar with a big smile on her face.

"You wanna ask or should I?"

I shrug and sorta motion for her to go ahead if she wants with my hands. She turns suddenly towards the bartender and lets loose a serious punch to her face, possibly breaking the girl's nose.

 _Ow, geez, that was sorta unnecessary. I know she's a vamp and sorta insists on us doing that every time we want information out of her just so it looks like she's not giving it over willingly, but it doesn't usually require something with that much force._

"Talk!"

Sharia tries to sell the punch as much as possible which isn't hard considering how hard Faith has a tendency to punch before saying anything.

"Ow, all right... what... what do you wanna know?"

She looks over at me with her hands cupping her nose and I just sorta shrug to keep up appearances while flashing her a slightly apologetic smile that's hopefully not obvious to anyone nearby.

 _She may be a vamp but she's not the kind that is out there every day sucking on people's necks for a cheap thrill. We checked her out the first time we came here. She's got a regular supply of pig's blood coming in for the bar that she's skims off the top of for survival._

The vamp bartender makes the usual paranoid look around as we let the silence drag out for added effect. So I go ahead and step in.

"We're interested in a vamp nest."

She checks her nose but apparently it's only bleeding a little so she tries to face us with a somewhat defiant look while wiping her nose.

"Any in particular you had in mind?"

Faith leans up against the bar all nonchalant which is mostly just posturing.

"Pleasure rather than business then..."

I make with my own imposing glare and cross my arms over my chest.

"Something like that..."

Sharia starts pouring a couple drinks while responding to us.

"Well, there's one over by Corianders cemetery, but I'd only go there if you're okay with puss and slime."

My slaying buddy and I look at each other and I know her curiosity is peaked whereas mine is kinda turned off by the mention of slime. She looks at the bartender again.

"Why?"

"The weak minded bunch living there, they've taken to protecting and probably worshiping a family of slime demons. The slime demons have yet to object since apparently the pack is waiting on the family hand and slime."

Faith looks at me, apparently curious for my opinion.

"Dust and slime, could be interesting wouldn't you say B?"

All I can do is sorta roll my eyes at her.

"If you're a fan of slime and having your clothes washed about a hundred times when we get home."

She frowns a little my way before cocking her head towards Sharia.

"You feel like something else?"

Taking a breath and sighing at the end of it, I shrug.

"No, it's fine. Corianders cemetery you said?"

Sharia nods at me respectfully.

"How many are we talking?"

"Last I heard there were about 5 in the slime family and double that in terms of vamps. It's been a couple days though."

Not more than a second later, a fist comes flying at her face and Faith punches her again but holds back a little.

"Thanks babe..."

 _Okay, that was totally uncalled for. But I can't say anything right now or it could end up getting Sharia killed and some other less friendly demon taking over as owner._

We turn and start heading for the exit and I take a quick glance back at the bartender as she responds while we're leaving. The tone in her voice is less than pleasant.

"Anytime, I could really use more nosebleeds."

Faith and I leave the bar and as soon as I'm sure we're far enough away, I face Faith while walking towards Corianders.

"You didn't have to do that you know?"

"What, the punching her thing, she asked us to do that remember? So she stays on the up and up with the rest of her demon pals."

"I know, it's just... you didn't have to hit her quite so hard. You could've been intimidating in other ways. Gave her a stern look, or grabbed her by the shirt and threatened something more painful."

"Yeah, but I find a good punching is much more effective."

Straightening out my path alongside Faith on the way to Corianders cemetery, I shrug knowing I'm not gonna get anywhere with this train of conversation.

"Fine, just don't do it too much that she goes AWOL on us and sends us into a serious trap."

Now Faith is the one to give me a shrug.

"I'll send her flowers and a couple packets of blood or something when we get back to the hotel."

I roll my eyes and keep walking.

* * *

Silently and slowly as possible, we creep our way up to the strangely clean looking main mausoleum of the cemetery, trying not to make any noise that would tip off the vamps inside.

 _This is gonna be messy, I just know it._

Faith creeps up to the doorway carefully and tries to peek in through the decent sized crack in it. After a few seconds, she moves away and motions for me to come up to the other side of the door, so I do. She nods and cocks her head towards inside the mausoleum to let me know that Sharia was on the up and up about the nest. Taking a quick peek through the door myself, I look at Faith, nod, and then hold up three fingers to count down. As soon as I show two fingers Faith grabs the pretty light looking door and flings it open the way I knew she would. So I head in first, making my presence felt with Faith close behind.

"Anyone order an extra pair of diapers for those extra slimy days?"

All five slime monsters and at least six vamps look up in our direction in shock. The vamps are quick to attack, with the two biggest slime demons standing up in front of the others to protect the others and be back up for the vamps if need be. Things quickly become a game of three on one for both Faith and me as the vamps try to surround us as best they can.

 _This doesn't add up._

Faith apparently has the same thought.

"Didn't Sharia say there were ten vamps with the family?"

The first vamp in front of me comes at me and I easily deflect his punch, using his momentum towards me to fire back with an elbow to the head. He stumbles back and I keep my guard up to wait for the next attack.

"Just watch your back and hope they don't come out of the woodwork somewhere."

"Vamps aren't too fond of woodwork B. How long you been doing this again?"

I roll my eyes as the vamp to my right and the one that sorta got behind me both attack at the same time. When they get close enough, I turn my back to the first vamp to attack me and hit the one in front of me with a kick to the gut before throwing the other one a right cross to the face. It fazes both of them but the vamp I turned my back to thinks he has an opening now and tries again. He charges from behind me and I twist my hips just enough to put some serious power behind the kick I deliver to his chest, sending him flying into one of the slime demons.

 _Okay, one down... if I can only get rid of one of the other two long enough to stake the last one, I should be fine._

"Long enough..."

Both of the other two vamps attacking me try to rush me at the same time but I'm ready, hitting the one on my right with a back fist and then swinging my leg out to kick the other. They connect and my kick ends up sending one of them into the other and tumbling to the ground on each other.

 _Uh, okay, that wasn't really the plan but it works._

Walking over to the disoriented pile of vamps, I hit the one on top with a straight jab to the face and it sends his head into the bottom vamp's head. It keeps them disoriented long enough for me to stake the first one and let him explode into dust before plunging the second vamp through the heart with my stake.

 _Huh, I guess that wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be._

I look over at the vamp getting up and since I have a second I glance over in Faith's direction.

 _Of course, this isn't exactly over and done with, and I think the important thing is how much Faith's getting out of this._

With the few seconds I have before dealing with the vamp and slime demon that are coming my way become a priority, I watch Faith's fists fly in all directions as she beats on three vamps at once. Part of me can feel the intense satisfaction coming off her in waves as she puts more and more energy into the fight. I can't help but smile a little at the thought.

 _Things are definitely looking up._

The vamp and slime demon get within distance and I turn to face them, the slime demon taking the lead.

 _It's not over yet though._

Gripping my stake tightly in my right hand, I enjoy the feel of the wood in my hand as my muscles tense up into fighting mode.

 _Let's take things up a notch._

 **End of Chapter 5**


	6. Conversations That Need to be Had

**The F in Pike Chapter 6**

Conversations that need to be had

We do our best not to grin like idiots as we walk through the hotel lobby, trudging slime on the carpet all the way towards the elevator.

 _It's kinda hard. So much fun was had in that mausoleum that I can't help but smile at the thought of how badly we beat those guys into dust in the wind._

My shoes slosh on the carpet as the slime in my shoes moves around in an uncomfortable way.

 _Dust and slime... mostly slime._

Other people in the hotel look at us like we're insane with all the green puss and slime covering us pretty much from head to toe. We step into the elevator that opens up just as we get to it and everyone else who was waiting for it seems to step aside and let us take the ride up to our rooms alone. Faith and I do our best to keep from bursting when we step into the elevator but the second the door closes we break out into this uncontrollable urge to laugh that we've been holding almost since the minute we got back to the hotel a couple minutes ago.

"Oh, my god..."

Faith can't stop laughing either as she wipes away some slime that's dripping down from her hair onto her forehead.

"Did you... did you see the l-looks on their... faces?"

I lean back against the railing in the elevator car, despite the fact that I'm getting slime all over it.

 _It's hard to stand up that's so funny._

"It was kinda hard not to, not to notice, the way they were... staring at us like we'd grown a third arm or something."

Faith lifts her arms and checks back and forth to make sure that's not the case with a big grin on her face while laughing.

"I think we're, we're safe with that. It looks like I've still got only... my two."

Her joke makes me crack up even more and she joins me as the elevator continues to make its way up to our floor.

"One... one of them gave me the evil eye. It was hilarious."

"Was he slimy anywhere? Maybe we killed one of his relatives?"

Both of us keep laughing like we're gonna die if we stop. We eventually calm down a little though as the doors to the elevator open onto our floor. I pull myself off the wall and almost fall over from the weak feeling in my knees on account of all the laughter. Faith's quick to act though, grabbing me and holding me upright until I can get my balance back quickly.

"Watch yourself B, if you'd done that in the mausoleum, you'd be dead right now."

I roll my eyes with a grin on my face as I step out of the elevator and head towards my room, Faith following behind.

"Not with you watching my back F."

Faith chuckles with a big grin on her face.

"True, I'm always watching your back B, especially when you're not looking."

Despite thinking about what that means, I chuckle at what Faith says with a bit of a smile.

"Good to know."

 _Why does her saying that feel kinda weird but also kinda good?_

"So, what do you think? Shower?"

I turn around to her while walking backwards to our rooms.

"What?"

Faith shrugs at me.

"I was thinking taking a shower would be a good idea, followed by lying in bed watching movies or something. Wanna join me?"

Rather than answering, I just sorta stare at her with a confused look.

"For the movies or whatever, you up for it?"

 _Oh..._

"Oh, yeah, sure... movies would be good... movies and junk food."

"Sounds like a plan."

Making it to my room, I stop in front of it and try to dig out my keys from my slime covered pocket while Faith continues to the door right next to mine. I look at my hair as a piece of it, covered in slime, falls in front of my eyes.

"Assuming I can get the slime out of my hair, I'll knock on your door when I'm all settled in again."

Faith looks over at me with a bit of a grin as I get my keys out of my pocket and eventually open my door.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

We both laugh a little more as if we haven't laughed enough and go into our respective hotel rooms. I shut my door behind me and throw my keys onto a nearby end table before walking into the place. When I get about halfway between the door and my bed, I stretch out a bit before grabbing the hem of my shirt and slowly pulling it up over my head. Letting my shirt, slime and all, drop with a splat on the floor.

 _Mmm, best part about staying in a hotel is that I know I'm not gonna have to clean up the mess I just made. I'll do the clothes myself, but someone else will get the floor._

With a deep breath, I enjoy the feeling of air against the parts of my skin that aren't covered in slime and start to undo my pants as I head towards the bathroom.

 _Damn, I can't remember the last time I had this much fun. In fact, I'm not even sure there was a last time I had this much fun. Things are always fun when we come out here to get in some serious slayage, but I don't remember that much fun ever being had. It's weird. Not that I should complain, better to just enjoy it._

My pants drop to my ankles as I step out of them and walk into the bathroom, heading towards the shower/bathtub combo.

 _I'll just take a shower, get clean, and enjoy this good feeling. I just hope nothing will ruin the good feeling for Faith. She had a lot of fun tonight. We got one hell of a large step closer to being real friends again and it was really nice._

I reach into the shower to turn on the hot and cold taps to get the water just the right temperature.

 _Of course, being the real friend that I like to try and be with Faith, I can't let one good time give me a reason to ignore the fact that I really need to talk to Faith about things. Need to find the right time to bring up the stuff she needs to deal with and find a way to help her deal with it. That would be the friendly thing to do._

Switching the water to shower mode, I take off my underwear and prepare to step in.

 _Maybe now is as good a time as any to do the talking thing. Talk to her now during an upswing in the roller coaster that is the Buffy and Faith dynamic. Could even bring us closer together as friends, which'd be nice since Willow, Xander and me don't get enough time to talk like we used to._

I take a deep breath as I test the water to make sure it's still the right temperature.

 _I'll have to give it some thought, figure it out when I see how things go after I'm clean._

* * *

My knuckles touch the wood of the door that connects both of our rooms a couple times to let Faith know that I'm asking for her. For a while there's no sound on the other end and I focus my hearing through the door to hear the sounds of moving on the other side.

"Yeah?"

 _Why does it sound like she's asking who it is?_

"It's me."

I hear her come up to the door and unlock it before pulling it open. She's on the other side and we smile at each other when our eyes meet. Her hair is still sorta wet and she's wearing shorts and a t-shirt that obviously aren't meant to be worn outside.

"Hey..."

Faith turns around and walks into her room, so I follow her.

"Hey... looks like you got the slime out of your hair."

Closing the door behind me with one hand, I use the other to take a piece of my still slightly wet but drier than her hair and look at it, rolling my eyes.

"Just barely, can we promise not to do that again for at least the rest of this trip? I'd really like to avoid more slime for a while."

Faith laughs at me as she clears off stuff that's piled up on her bed and couch that are facing the TV.

"Yeah, sure, I could do without slime for a while. But hey, at least we had fun eh?"

I don't really even try to deny it as I smile at the memory of the fight.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun."

Faith stops, looking at me like I'd just grown a third head.

 _Why is she looking at me like that?_

"What?"

She gets this strange grin on her face before cleaning one or two more things off the bed with a sweep of her hand.

"Nothing, it's just... I don't think I've ever heard you admit to having actual fun when it comes to the slaying."

I shrug.

"Apparently it's escaped your keen notice in the three years we've been working together at the dojo that I've actually changed since we last hated each other."

Again Faith sorta laughs and I smile.

"Seems like it."

 _All right, might as well get to the important stuff before we have too much fun._

"Yeah, listen, Faith... I, speaking of change, I was sorta hoping I could talk to you about something."

She turns and faces me, a confused expression on her face.

"About what?"

 _Gotta handle this delicately, can't have her getting too defensive all at once._

"Well, about... you, specifically."

Faith isn't quite sure how to take that and I can see her getting slightly tense about the subject.

"Me?"

My weight shifts back and forth.

 _I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way. I don't wanna turn the good time we've been having into an argument or a fist fight. I've had enough of fists tonight._

"Uh, yeah, I uh... I noticed that you've been kinda hard on the girls lately and I wanted to talk to you about why."

One of her eyebrows raises themselves at me.

"Didn't we talk about why already? I went a little overboard, not gonna do that again. We were cool."

"Yeah but why did you go overboard?"

Faith sorta grins at me like she thinks the question is ridiculous.

"Never been one to be known for my restraint B, you of all people should know that."

I sorta step toward her a bit, not sure why.

"But that's not true. You show a lot of restraint, a lot of times Faith."

She shrugs and rolls her eyes, not believing me.

"Sure I did, like when?"

"My sister?"

The mere mention of the fact that I have a sister makes every muscle in her tense up with a defensive posture.

 _Okay, explanation time._

"You may not have noticed this Faith, but the whole time you were with my sister, I saw this completely different side to you. I didn't see the mean, over-confident bitch that I'd known for so many years. I saw this, nice person. A person that I could be friends with and joke around with and hang out with like friends are supposed to."

Her reaction gets sorta unreadable and I'm not sure if I should keep going, but I do.

"But more than that, I saw the way you were with Dawn."

Again the mention of my sister gets a reaction out of her, this time a more sad but angry face stares back at me.

"With her, you were this... honest, attentive, reasonable woman who was exactly everything that my sister could need."

What I'm saying makes the sadness in her eyes worse but the anger is still very much there.

"You know, when I used to think about the kind of person that would be good for Dawn and who I'd like to see her with, you weren't even on the list anywhere. Mostly because I kinda assumed that whoever Dawn finally wanted to be with would be more of the male variety. The whole lesbian thing never really occurred to me. But... if I honestly look back on everything, I... I can't really imagine anyone who could've been better for Dawn than you. And, okay, so, it didn't really work. You weren't meant to be or whatever. But lately, all I'm starting to see is that bitch I used to know, and that bothers me. So I'd at least like to think that talking about whatever it is that's bothering you might help with that."

Faith just sorta stares at me on account of my impromptu speech, a slightly defeated expression on her face.

 _I'm not sure that's exactly the response I was hoping for. I was expecting a little more._

Taking a deep breath, I try and push things a little farther without going overboard.

"Okay, uh, how about, now that I've gone and vented about everything I've been keeping pent up, you're welcome to do the same."

There's a while where just silence is in the room and Faith has that same slightly defeated expression, before she becomes slightly resolved.

"Thanks but no thanks B. It's not a good idea."

 _Not a good idea?_

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Because why?"

She gets slightly angry for pushing things further than she might want. My former nemesis sorta rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Because, me talking about things would involve you and your fist and my face. I'd rather that didn't happen."

 _She's starting to get all cryptic._

"Never stopped you before..."

"Yeah well, like you said before, I'm not the same person you used to know."

 _Okay, I guess I sorta walked right into that one._

"All right, but... the new Faith that I've gotten to know? She talks about her problems when she needs help. So... talk..."

Faith looks at me, not convinced that my suggestion is really the best for some reason.

"You really wanna know?"

I nod at her even though I'm kinda worried about whatever it is that she'll say.

"I'd appreciate it."

She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh.

"Fine... I sorta... cheated on Dawn once."

The sudden need to use the fist that's instantly clenched up with my right hand is repressed just barely and I look up at Faith again.

"Okay, I've resisted the urge to bury your face into the floor. Do you wanna explain to me what you mean by sorta cheated on my sister?"

"See, I knew this was a bad idea. If I say anything else we're gonna end up putting holes all over the room."

 _She probably shouldn't bet on that._

Letting my fist slowly relax, I go back to having a conversation.

"Uh, actually, I think it's probably more likely to be blood on both of us and the room if you don't go ahead and explain what you meant by 'sorta cheated' on my sister."

That doesn't exactly give her a reason to keep talking, so I take a deep breath, make a solid attempt to not jump to conclusions, or fists, and then look at her again.

"Okay... I asked... I wasn't really expecting that answer, but I got one. So I'd really appreciate it if you explain what you mean and why it's making you angry lately."

She stares at me for a while. The fact that she thinks this is a bad idea totally plain on her face. I move a little closer to her in a non-threatening way.

"Please?"

"I don't really know if it qualifies as cheating exactly, but it felt like cheating and it's the only word that really makes sense to me. It... it was when we were on that 'relationship time-out' thing that we went through before we actually broke up. I went out to a bar instead of doing my usual moping around my apartment or pounding on vamps in a cemetery."

I get closer, just listening as she continues.

"I had a few drinks, felt less bad about everything. Then this girl came along and started hitting on me. She made me feel better and reminded me of Dawn a little, so I sorta let her. We talked, danced, and actually had some fun which had been really hard for me to do lately."

Faith pauses for a second, waiting for my reaction, which I've intentionally tried to delay until I hear everything.

"Things went a little further than they should've, but after she kissed me, I felt horribly guilty."

 _Okay, sorta bad on account of the kissing, but the guilty part sorta makes up for that._

She doesn't say anything after that so I offer to keep the conversation going.

"And?"

Her expression makes me think that she thinks I've gone insane or something, which is sort've ironic.

"And? What do you mean, and?"

 _That was probably a poor choice of words, but I can't take it back now, might as well run with the feeling._

"And I'm waiting for the part that's making you angry."

Nothing but silence follows for a while and she gets this really angry look on her face. It makes her pick up a can of beer that she was probably planning on drinking later.

"Fuck, B..."

She squeezes the can in her hand to the point where the tab pops and beer starts pouring out onto the floor.

"You made your pretty little speech about how much I've changed and what a great person I am now, but you don't have a problem with what I just told you?"

Staying silent for a second, I sorta think about it.

 _She kissed another girl, but she felt bad about it. That's a good thing, better than before anyway._

"Not really..."

Faith tosses the can which is probably about half empty into a nearby garbage pail.

"B, I haven't changed at all."

 _Hasn't changed?_

"What do you mean? Did you not hear my over-dramatic speech?"

She rolls her eyes at me.

"Except it's all crap. I haven't changed at all. DK and I have ONE fight and I'm back to being the same bitch I've always been. Sleeping around, getting off any way I can, not really caring about anyone but myself."

One of my eyebrows raise at her.

"I thought you said you didn't sleep with this girl."

"I didn't, but... I might as well have. I mean, it's not like it really would've made a difference."

 _God, she's really beating herself up about this. Is this why she's been so pissed off for so long?_

"Uh, okay, first... sleeping with someone is COMPLETELY different then kissing someone. So yes it does make a difference. I'd be pounding your face into the floor right now if you'd done more than just kiss her. Second, what was the girl's name?"

Her confused expression looks back at me from the question.

"Why?"

 _Okay, that sorta tells me what I wanna know already, but I kinda need to make sure she sees it._

"Just... go with it. I'm trying to help."

Faith thinks about it for a second before responding.

"Danielle, I think..."

"All right, see? The old Faith, she would've never even bothered to remember what Danielle's name was. But you did. That's not the old Faith talking, that's the new and improved one."

She stays silent, not sure she should believe me.

"I guess... maybe..."

"No, Faith, not maybe, you..."

That makes me walk right up to her but I do it kinda quickly and that makes her take a step back, worried I'm gonna do something violent, so I stop.

"Look, Faith... breaking up is hard to do. I know, I've been through enough of my own to know how much it sucks. But, you shouldn't beat yourself up like this."

"But what I did..."

"You had a weak moment. We all have them Faith. You felt bad and you found someone who was trying to make you feel better. There's nothing wrong with that. It probably would've been better if you hadn't, but god knows I'm not the one to be telling you not to be weak and find some way to make yourself feel better. I've done that more times than I can count. Everyone makes mistakes Faith, it doesn't mean you're back to being who you used to be."

After a strangely comfortable silence, Faith actually sorta smiles.

"I guess I'm not the only one who's changed, eh B?"

That makes me smile a little myself.

"Thanks for noticing."

We smile at each other for a while before she breaks the silence.

"Thanks B..."

Then she reaches out and does something totally unexpected. She puts her arms around me and hugs me. Our bodies press together as she squeezes me thankfully and I have no idea what to do.

 _Uh... why does this feel so good? I know I helped her and she's thanking me for it, which feels good. But I'm not entirely sure that's why it feels way better than it should._

"Uh, no problem... anything I can do to help."

I pat her on the back uncomfortably for a second before she finally lets go and pulls back, stepping back in the process. She smiles with a kind of real happiness that's still sorta uncomfortable.

 _Okay, definite improvement. I may have actually helped her._

"So, you still wanna watch some movies and eat popcorn and stuff?"

 _Suddenly my first reaction is not so much, but that would be totally rude of me after all the talking and bonding we just did._

"Sure, I could go for someone else's drama right now."

Faith chuckles and then tilts her head towards the incredibly small kitchen area of the hotel room.

"Cool, I'll get the popcorn. You pick out some girlie flick I know you wanna watch."

She heads off in the direction of the kitchen.

 _Well, now that we've got that out of the way, this trip might be even more fun._

 **End of Chapter 6**


	7. To Breathe Again

**The F in Pike Chapter 7**

To Breathe Again

 _She's changed._

I just sit and watch Faith as she takes on four vamps at once in her little let loose moment she insisted on having without my help.

 _It's like I can feel it or something. I'm not sure why, but it's like there's been a total shift in her attitude._

Her fists fly every which way as she fights them off with her completely new attitude.

 _There's none of the anger behind her punches that I saw before. She's not tense when she moves either. Almost like this huge weight has been lifted off her ever since we talked last night. Not that everything's fixed and perfect now. She's still in a lot of pain. She's still confused and guilty and a little bit sad, but I think the anger is mostly gone, which is definitely a good thing._

Faith almost takes one of the vamps' heads off with a roundhouse kick that sends the poor dead guy to the grass of the cemetery pretty hard.

 _At least now I can breathe easy knowing that I can talk to her and get her to open up without worrying that she's gonna try and stab me with something sharp and pointy. After all the drama last night, we actually had some fun together, like we were real friends or something. It was nice._

She takes two of the four vamps out with a left, right quick staking combo and then backs off the other two to regroup.

 _So why does that make me feel really guilty? I don't have anything to feel guilty about. Faith's my friend, and I want her to be happy and have fun. And if we're happy and have fun together, that's even better. So why does spending the night in Faith's hotel room eating junk food and watching movies make me feel guilty?_

My fellow slayer throws a combo of fists at both vamps as they try to attack her together and she fends them off easily.

 _It's not like I haven't watched movies and eaten junk food with people before. I used to do it all the time with Willow and Xander. It was fun. I never felt guilty about doing it with them. I mean, I know I've never done it with Faith before but why should that matter at all?_

One of the vamps manages to get in a few good shots and for a second I get this urge to jump in and help Faith but I know she'd never forgive me for it so I resist the urge.

 _Maybe... maybe it's Dawn. Maybe I feel guilty for having fun with Faith because of Dawn. She left for college in so much pain and dealing with so many issues and here I am having fun slaying with her ex. Somehow that feels really wrong. It feels like I should be hating Faith and shutting her out of my life after the way things ended with them and how it affected Dawn. That feels like the right thing to do... but I don't think I can._

 _That would be like trying to be Dawn and punish Faith because Dawn wasn't around. I can't hate Faith for Dawn's sake, that wouldn't make any sense. But if I know that and understand that, then I shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. So why can't I stop feeling bad?_

My fellow slayer takes care of the two remaining vamps without beating the hell into them and I hop down off my seat on the above ground grave and walk towards her. She smiles at me as she turns my way.

"Thanks B..."

"Any time... seems like they actually gave you a decent fight, you have fun?"

Faith stretches out a bit with a big grin on her face and I swear I heard something close to a grunt near the end.

"You could say that. Man, it's been forever since I had a really good slay."

"Cool, but you have to let me get the next one all right?"

"Deal..."

We turn and start walking through the cemetery again together. For a while neither of us says anything and I kinda feel this weird uncomfortable feeling from the silence. Eventually, she breaks it.

"Since we're all about helping each other out lately and you've been full of Mother Theresa good will, do you mind if I ask you for your help with something?"

Her open ended question leaves me with this sudden mixture of fear and curiosity about what she's gonna ask.

 _What the heck is going on with me? I'm not sure I wanna know what she needs help with... better not commit to anything._

"Depends on what you need help with."

She gets this weird expression on her face for a second as she looks over at me before keeping her attention on where she's going.

"I uh... I've been thinking about what you said last night and... I think maybe you might be right about the whole, overreacting thing. Maybe it wasn't as big a deal as I thought, even though I still feel really guilty about it."

 _Well at least she still feels guilty. She may have been overreacting to the whole thing but she still technically sorta kinda cheated on my sister even though it's not really cheating._

"But... I, I'm not really sure what to do about it."

"Oh..."

"I mean... I feel like I should do something about it, but I don't know what."

"Yeah, I guess that is kind've a problem."

"And since your ranting helped me before and you've sorta got the patent on dealing with bad break ups. I figured I'd ask your advice again."

Not really saying anything, I have to roll my eyes again at what she just said about me.

 _She couldn't just give me a compliment and leave it at that._

"So... got any advice for me oh great slayer of boyfriends?"

Part of me wants to punch her for saying that.

"Yeah, try saying stuff without insulting me if you want my advice."

She chuckles at me a little.

"It was a joke B."

"I know."

We walk together in silence for a while as I'm not really sure what to say.

"So?"

 _Well, I might as well say something._

"You know, contrary to popular opinion, I don't actually have all the answers to everything."

"A fact I've been trying to get through that head of yours for years B, but come on, you gotta have something for me. What would you do?"

 _What would I do?_

"Uh, well... aside from the fact that if I were in your position I'd have dated my own sister which is a pretty disturbing thought... if things had ended badly with me and someone like things did with you and Dawn I'd..."

I pause for a second, trying to get the idea of me and my sister having dated out of my head for a second.

"I think if I'd done what you did, I'd... try to talk to them about it? Explain that I'm sorry and hope that they'd forgive me?"

Faith is quiet for a little while and I glance at her to see she's actually thinking about what I said.

"Somehow I'm not sure your sister's in a forgiving kinda mood."

Looking over at her, I see this sorta pained look on her face and I wish I could do something to help make it go away.

"No... I guess not."

There's a while where neither of us says anything and we keep walking through the cemetery together.

 _So... what do I do? How do I help Faith deal with this?_

"Well..."

Some part of me feels like I'm gonna regret this as soon as I ask it but it could help.

"Let me ask you... how do you feel about her?"

She looks at me, confused by the question.

"My sister, how do you feel about her now?"

All of the sudden Faith stops and I'm not expecting it so I stop and turn to face her behind me. Neither of us says anything and I just wait for her to respond.

"I..."

 _I'm going to regret this aren't I?_

"I don't know... I'm not really sure how I feel about her anymore. Your sister, she, she changed my world."

She sorta pauses for a second and I'm not sure whether she's having happy or sad feelings.

"Being with her made me really appreciate what it means to be in a real relationship. I... I never had that before, and I know that's part of why I loved her before. But I'm not sure that I can love her because of that now. Not after everything that's happened. I... I don't know."

 _Why is hearing about this leaving me with a sudden urge to hit something?_

"Well... give it some thought."

Faith looks at me with this weird look.

"You okay B?"

 _Am I okay?_

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?"

Her expression turns sorta curious.

"I dunno, you got this look like..."

A tree branch snaps and I look toward the sound to see a pair of vamps heading this way.

"Oh, look, vamps... I believe you said it was my turn for slay-age."

After a weird second of her looking at me, she waves her hand in the direction of the vamps, letting me go and I immediately start walking toward the blood suckers.

 _I really need to hit something._

My fist flies into the first vamps' face.

 **End of Chapter 7**


	8. Progress Made

**The F in Pike Chapter 8**

Progress Made

My stake plunges deep into her heart and the brunette vamp bursts into dust right in front of me. That familiar wave of relief and pleasure flows through me in the few seconds since the vamp got dusted.

 _Wow... that felt a lot more satisfying then usual. It doesn't always feel that good. I wonder what that's about._

"Damn B..."

I turn to Faith as she walks up to me and I feel that urge to hit something slowly going away after the fight.

"You really went to town on those vamps. Almost seems like you got your own issues to be working out. Anything I should know about?"

Giving Faith a bit of a grin, I put my stake back into my pocket and we start to follow each other through the cemetery again.

 _How do I make this seem like not a big deal?_

"Not really, I'm good. I'm just... trying to get into the spirit of things you know?"

She gives me a grin back and twirls one of her stakes in her hands.

"Well I think you managed to do that just fine."

"Thanks."

We walk in silence for a while before Faith breaks it.

"Speaking of getting into the spirit of things though..."

Our eyes meet as we walk for a second.

"While you were pummeling, I was thinking about what you said, about Dawn and everything."

 _Why am I suddenly feeling uncomfortable talking about this? This is what I wanted._

"Oh?"

She's silent for a few steps.

"I think... it might be over for Dawn and me."

I just let her talk this out, staying silent.

"She means a lot to me, but... I can't see myself getting back with her."

 _There's no reason that should be giving me good feelings._

"Okay..."

"So... what do I do?"

With a glance over at her for a second, I keep walking through the cemetery.

"What do you mean?"

Faith takes a deep breath and sighs at the end of it.

"Well... where do I go from here? Do I... start dating again or something?"

The words 'start dating again' give me this mixed feeling of happy, nervous, and guilty.

"I, I don't think I can tell you that Faith. That seems like the sorta thing you should figure out for yourself."

She gets thoughtful for about a minute or two.

"Any ideas on how I might figure that out?"

That makes me shrug at her a little.

"No idea."

She glances at me as if she was expecting more.

"Just, do whatever feels like the right thing for you and go with that. I'm sure that's not gonna be too much of a stretch for you, is it?"

There's a bit of a grin on her face as she cocks her head at me for a second.

"I dunno B, with all this growth and maturity I've been dealing with for the past couple of years, I'm not sure how easy that's gonna be."

Hearing that makes me grin back at her.

"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out."

Before responding to that, she gets a suddenly serious expression on her face and stops dead in her tracks behind a crypt so I do too. It takes me a second, but then I start to feel what Faith's obviously feeling.

 _A demon. Not sure what kind, but I'm fairly certain it's coming this way._

I try feeling it out but Faith's still ahead of me and she looks to the side of the crypt to sorta check to see if it was coming from that side.

 _Time for basic tactical strategy I guess._

Faith is about to motion for me to check out the other corner of the crypt but I'm already doing that. There's nothing on my side of the crypt either. She smiles from one side of the crypt and I smile back before I motion for us to attack from both sides so we can be sure to have the element of surprise. She nods at me and a couple seconds later we're sprinting across the long side of the crypt to catch our demon. She's the first to find the vein-y grey skinned demon and I see her plow into it and knock it to the ground with almost no effort.

 _Okay... I guess it's her turn to slay anyway._

It growls at Faith and she gives it a hard right cross punch to the face before getting up and waiting for it to fight back.

"One thing I don't need to figure out B, is being here with you. Slaying with you is the one thing that I don't have to worry about."

 _I think she just gave me a compliment._

"Careful Faith, that almost sounded like a compliment..."

The demon gets up and Faith hits it with a left and right cross combination.

"Yeah well, don't get used to it."

That makes me smile.

 _There's that old Faith I remember._

"Don't worry, already forgotten."

She looks at me and smiles, taking her eyes off the demon for a second. It manages to get in a lucky punch. Just as I'm about to step in and help Faith fires back with a three punch combo and I lean back against the crypt to watch again.

 _So I guess progress was made._

* * *

Music beats through the room as I sit with a drink in my hands trying not to feel uncomfortable. Looking over at Faith next to me, I just know that she's as nervous and uncomfortable sitting here as I am.

 _This was a bad idea._

"Are you sure this was a good idea?"

She glances at me for a second before turning her attention to the crowd of club goers in front of us.

"Of course..."

There's silence between us despite the music pumping through the club. She glances at me as I'm looking right back at her and that makes her look down into her drink.

"Not really..."

I smile her way even though she doesn't see it.

"We can go if you want. Maybe you're just not ready for this just yet. Give it time."

Her hands shift the glass in her hand around uncomfortably.

"No, it's okay. I... I can do this."

She turns her attention towards me and smiles with the best fake confidence smile she can muster.

"Just like riding a bicycle... right?"

That makes me smile a little at her and I reach out, putting my hand on her wrist in an attempt to be comforting.

"I think it's a little more complicated then that Faith."

The fake smile turns into a more realistic one and I get this good feeling inside for a few seconds before she looks down at my hand and I'm hit with this sudden wave of guilt. It makes me take my hand off of Faith and bring it back to my own drink. She seems to get just as uncomfortable and readjusts herself in the booth.

"Maybe..."

 _This isn't helping. I'm supposed to be helping, and this isn't helping. I need to be doing something that's going to help._

My head turns towards the dance floor and I idly scan the people on it, looking for some way to help.

 _Maybe what we need is to stop sitting in a booth together moping, because it's obviously not making things better. Maybe what we need is..._

A sudden familiar instinct kicks in as my eyes fall on a particular group of dancers on the floor just as they're starting to move off the dance floor towards the nearest exit.

 _Perfect..._

I reach over and grab Faith's drink, taking it out of her hands and setting it down a few inches in front of her. She looks at me confused, so I take her by the wrist again.

"Come on..."

This time, I pull her along with me as I make my way out of the booth. Faith steps out with me and quickly gets her footing.

"What's up B?"

With a bit of a grin, I tilt my head towards the pair of vamps heading out the door, each with their own victim. Her own instinct kicks in and she looks at me again, still slightly confused.

"It's time to have some of that thing called fun I've heard so much about it."

For some reason I don't let go of Faith's wrist while I make my way towards following the vamps and she doesn't try and stop me from pulling her along. The door to the back alley closes just as we get there and I push it open quickly. We get outside, the cool air hitting us as we do and I'm about to come up with one of my witty jokes when I'm beaten to it.

"Mind if I join in?"

 _What? Who?_

There's someone standing at the end of the alley with his back towards the light so his face is overshadowed by the darkness of the alley fighting against it. I look at Faith and I can see she's just as confused as I am. Suddenly, the vamps let go of their victims and start rushing the one in front of them, leaving us standing there wondering what's going on.

"Guess not..."

 _That voice. His voice sounds familiar._

His fists start flying at the vampire couple whose dinner was interrupted by this guy, whoever he is. It's not long before he manages to get the upper hand and it seems like there's nothing for us to do but watch. After a couple punches are exchanged, the guy pulls out a stake and takes out both vamps pretty simply. As the dust settles, the guy walks over to the victim couple and checks on them.

"Are you all right?"

They both nod at him with fear and he steps back, giving them a way to the street.

"You might want to go home."

 _Wait... he... it couldn't be._

The victim couple start sprinting for the open street as he makes his way over here, putting his stake back into the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Definitely not like San Diego."

He doesn't look up right away when he speaks to us.

"What about you ladies? Are you...?"

His eyes finally meet mine as my eyes adjust enough so that I can see his face clearly for the first time.

 _It's him._

After a few silent moments of shock, he starts smiling at me while I'm still stuck in shock mode.

"Buffy?"

That manages to give me a reason to smile, and then I finally remember that I have a voice too.

"Pike?"

He shifts his weight in front of me with a strange amount of shyness.

"Yeah..."

Pike puts out his hand, offering a handshake as I let go of Faith's hand to step towards him and give him a hug when we stop.

 _Uh..._

This time it's me who puts out my hand to give him a handshake as he steps into me to give me a hug and again we have to stop. We both smile at each other in silence for a few seconds until just before it gets uncomfortable.

 _Oh screw it..._

"Come here..."

I step into his personal space and put my arms around him quickly. It takes him a minute but eventually he puts his arms around me too.

"It's good to see you."

"Likewise Buff."

 **End of Chapter 8**


	9. An Old Friend in an Alley

**The F in Pike Chapter 9**

An old friend in an alley

 _It's Pike... it's really him._

Eventually, we step back from the hug and I feel this slightly happy but uncomfortable feeling going through me.

 _I... I haven't seen him in... I don't know how long._

"Hey..."

My voice makes him smile this honest smile that's kind of comforting.

"Buffy..."

Pike looks me up and down in this way that somehow doesn't make me feel like he's checking me out but doesn't bother me either.

"You look good."

I smile at what he says and shift my weight on the balls of my feet. After a second or two, I look at him.

"You too..."

He grins in this non-male chauvinist overconfident way.

 _He's here. Like, actually here in front of me for the first time in forever. It's kind of this surreal blast from the past that I'm not really sure how to react to._

I watch him for what feels like a few minutes in silence because I'm not really sure where or how to start a conversation with him. Faith manages to take care of that fairly quickly though.

"So..."

 _Oh... right, Faith is here._

Turning slightly so I can look between Faith and Pike fairly quickly, I turn one hand towards Faith.

"Faith, this is Pike."

I switch to turn a hand to Pike.

"Pike... this is my friend Faith."

They look at each other with a bit of a smile and then Pike extends a hand for a handshake. Faith takes his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you..."

Pike pulls her hand up and kisses the back of her hand the way that an old time-y British person like Giles would when meeting someone.

"The pleasure is all mine."

For some reason, the slight grin on Faith's face as Pike lets go of her hand and smiles bothers me.

"Faith... Pike is... well..."

 _What exactly should I say he is? I've never really been sure. We were kinda friends for a while but he wanted more and I wasn't all that interested. Plus, we haven't really spoken in like 9 years or something._

Thankfully, Pike interjects during my pause.

"We're old friends."

 _I guess that works._

"Yeah, Pike and I are old friends."

Faith kinda looks Pike over and something about the way she does it bothers me.

"Old friends eh? How old exactly? Because, you know, I've known B for a few years now and I've only ever met one guy named after a phallic object in her life."

I look at Faith, slightly annoyed at what she just said.

"Really?"

"What?"

Faith and I stare at each other for a few seconds and despite being annoyed with her, I'm enjoying this sudden playful attitude of hers.

 _At least she's not angry or brooding. I guess I can deal with a little verbal jabbing if it lets her move forward._

"Only one eh? What was his name?"

"Um..."

"Spike..."

I shift my weight uncomfortably at Faith's mention of his name.

 _I may be pretty much over him, but I still don't like how we left things. Maybe I should find some time to call him at Wolfram and Hart and work things out._

"Spike? Really?"

Pike looks at me with a somewhat strange but amused look on his face.

"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it."

He turns back to Faith, looking at her in a way that makes me more uncomfortable then talking about Spike and I'm not really sure why.

"So she hasn't mentioned me at all?"

Faith shrugs with a bit of a grin and I just have to jump in at that point.

"Uh, yeah, but the reason I didn't is because we were enemies for like, 5 of the like... 10 years we've known each other? And only really friends for the past 2 or so. Besides, talking has never really been our thing, has it Faith?"

She looks at me and chuckles.

"I guess."

I turn to Faith.

"Pike and I knew each other before Sunnydale, when I lived in L.A. after I first learned I was a slayer. We spent a lot of time together, as partners."

Faith grins.

"So you were groin buddies?"

I shove her half-playfully, half out of annoyance.

"No, not like that Faith."

Pike shifts slightly at Faith's suggestion and I feel a little twinge of pride at the thought of what that might mean. He interjects.

"We fought vampires together in L.A. Made a pretty good team of it too if I remember."

I smile at him when he looks at me.

"Yeah..."

Faith looks at both of us, slightly confused.

"So what happened? Where'd the history of you two become finite?"

"Finite? Really Faith?"

"What? I expand my vocabulary from time to time."

Rolling my eyes at her, I let out a bit of a sigh.

"We ran into some trouble on a trip to Vegas and things got dicey. We kinda... parted ways after that."

I shift uncomfortably for a few moments of silence, feeling kinda guilty.

"Yeah, about that Pike..."

He holds up his hands.

"It's cool. I understand. Fifteen years is a long time to deal with things Buff. Let's just call the past, the past and leave it there."

The way what he says comes off as final kinda bothers me but I try not to show it.

"Sure..."

Pike takes hold of a strap around his shoulder and adjusts it to where a pouch that looks not unlike a stake is centered on his chest. He puts his stake into the pouch and secures it.

"How about we take this conversation to a less dark alley type location?"

Faith seems a little too eager at the question and throws her thumb back to the door we came through from the bar.

"We were actually just having a drink when we caught wind of the vamps. Wanna join us?"

He seems a little more eager then I'm comfortable with to answer.

"I could go for a drink."

Faith turns to me somewhat eagerly and it bothers me.

"B?"

Despite myself and how completely awkward this is going to be, I smile.

"That'd be nice."

She glances back at the door we came into the alley from and then turns back.

"Damn, looks like the door's one way. Let's go through the front."

She steps forward towards him and then stops when he doesn't move right away.

"Oh, sorry..."

They smile at each other for a second and I really wish they hadn't. Pike moves out of the way so Faith can get by and she goes, then he motions for me to go, so I do.

 _I'm not sure I like where this is going._

 **End of Chapter 9**


	10. Exposition with drinks

**The F in Pike Chapter 10**

Exposition... with drinks

 **Author's Note:** So, I'm going to shift back next week to the sequel and make this story and Sins of the Past a less regular thing while I keep writing it.

* * *

The liquid goes down quick and I drop the glass down on the bar, letting out a deep breath as I do.

"So... Pike..."

Faith's sudden interest in Pike has me wishing for another shot.

 _She's been asking a lot of questions._

I manage to catch the bartender's attention and point to my shot glass. He gets the message and gives me a one minute gesture.

 _More questions then I feel comfortable with._

"How long have you been fighting vampires?"

Pike seems somewhat focused on Faith as we sit at the bar together and she doesn't seem to mind.

 _But I guess it's better than her being all mope-y and emotional._

"Going on fifteen years now, give or take. There were a few years where I had to take some time off because of injuries and... other issues."

 _Mope-y and emotional leads to angry destruct-o girl, and that's never good._

He pauses for a second and turns his head half towards me then stops to look down at his drink, taking a sip.

"But beyond that, I've been fighting strong. Killed more vampires, demons and other dark forces then I can remember. Even managed to save the world once or twice."

She smiles at him playfully in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable but I'm not sure why.

"Really?"

"Probably not as much as a couple slayers on the Hellmouth, but I manage."

 _He knows I lived on the Hellmouth?_

"You've been checking up on me?"

He turns his attention to me slightly.

"In a way... after a few years, I was living in New Jersey for a while and I started hearing rumors about a slayer on the west coast. I don't know how much of it was true, but I assume that the fact that there are more slayers than you can shake a stick at these days, that the one about you dying is at least partly true."

"Yeah, the Buffster here has a habit of rising from the grave, the way martyrs tend to do."

 _Isn't that nice of her?_

"Gee, thanks Faith."

Pike smiles at me.

"I can see that. You always were big with the heroics. It was one of your best qualities."

The look on his face makes me feel tingly in a way that I don't think I've felt in a long time.

 _Uh..._

"That's me... heroic martyr girl."

He picks up his beer bottle and tilts it towards me in a salute before turning back to Faith.

"But Buffy isn't the only slayer I heard about over the years."

She seems to perk up at the thought.

 _Faith's a little too interested in what he has to say._

"Is that so?"

"Most definitely, there were a healthy bunch of rumors going around about a dark and sultry slayer gone rogue."

Faith gets slightly uncomfortable at the mention of her past.

 _Okay, the happy ship is veering off course, time to pull away from the gloomy depressing mood._

"But she's not all dark and deadly anymore. She's a white hat now, big with the helping the helpless and saving the world and all that."

That makes her relax a little more and I feel a bit better.

"I heard that too. Sorta fuzzy on the details, but if I get the gist of it... you're just a sexy and sultry slayer now."

She smiles at him and readjusts herself on the bar stool she's sitting on.

"Sexy and sultry eh? I can live with that."

This time I'm the one who shifts my position.

"Right... because there could never be any other slayer that's sexy and sultry."

Pike decides to backpedal suddenly.

"I wasn't trying to... I mean, you know that I was..."

Faith jumps in at this point.

"They're just rumors B. And besides, they are kind of true. I mean, on a scale of you to me?"

She wiggles and smirks at the same time.

"Is there really any contest?"

My natural instinct is to argue the point but Faith does need the ego boost.

"If you think so, F..."

There are a few moments of uncomfortable silence between us despite the music playing and the crowds of people around the club in different pockets. But it isn't long before Faith breaks it.

"So... Pike, what brings you in search of us hot and sexy slayer-selves?"

He sits back on the bar stool more comfortably while seeming like he's uncomfortable.

"Straight to the shop-talk with things then..."

Pike takes a moment to breathe.

"Well, actually... I was looking for you Buff."

I sit back, kind of surprised.

"Me? Really?"

He turns the glass on the table nervously.

"Yeah..."

"And you just, decided to look me up after 15 years?"

"You probably could've found her before that, couldn't you? Rumors and all... she spent 7 years in the same demon infested town."

Pike takes a breath.

"Well from everything I heard... you could handle yourself..."

I don't really respond.

 _He does have a point._

"But I heard about Sunnydale, and that you were on this whole mission to train the sudden overpopulation of new slayers that have cropped up since then and I thought I should look you up."

"All of the sudden? Without any reason?"

"I didn't say that."

 _Oh good, I love it when this happens._

"There's something coming. Something big and bad and mean..."

 _Sure it is..._

"It couldn't be cute and fuzzy?"

Faith comes in at this point.

"How big are we talking? Apocalypse big?"

He half shrugs.

"I'm not sure. I've been tracking it since a little town just outside of Maine. There has been a rash of murders across the east coast and heading this way."

"This way?"

 _Murders? What kinds of murders?_

"I assume there's something different about the murders? Something that makes you think that it's monster worthy?"

Pike doesn't elaborate right away, taking a breath.

"Their heads were taken clean off. And we're not talking about beheaded by a blade or some freaky surgery. The coroners I spoke to said that the only way they could think that these people died was that they had their heads torn off by hand... while they were still alive."

 _Damn..._

Faith and I look at each other for a moment.

"So when you said big and bad..."

"You weren't kidding."

 _Isn't that nice? Something big and bad is heading this way._

"What else do you know? Was there anything else on the victims? Marks? Symbols carved into their body or close to it?"

"I did some investigating, tried to get as much info as I can about them. It's kind of why I'm here."

 _Why he's..._

"It is?"

"All I had to do was look at two or three of the police reports and the obvious just jumped right out at me."

This time it's Faith that asks the question.

"Which is?"

"The names on the files of the victims, the one thing they have in common are the last names... Summers..."

 _Oh... good..._

 **End of Chapter 10**


	11. Moving on While Driving

**The F in Pike Chapter 11**

Moving on While Driving

 _I should ask her._

With my hands firmly on the wheel, I glance over at Faith next to me in the car as we head back home.

 _It was bugging me the whole time that they were together. It's best to just ask and then I'll actually know one way or the other._

She doesn't even seem to notice as I keep glancing over in her direction.

 _They were punning back and forth like there was no tomorrow. Not to mention making eyes at each other._

Faith readjusts her position in the passenger seat and I can't help but watch her for a few seconds.

 _She does have nice eyes._

I go back to watching the road.

 _I can see why Pike would be interested in them. But it's way too complicated. He and I had a thing back at Hemry. The idea that they could have a thing together weirds me out. I don't know anything for sure though. Faith can be flirty with people she just met. I was on the receiving end of that when we met and I don't think I've ever been able to introduce her to anyone without her making some kind of sexual comment. She even went there with my mom and... well, my sister. Which is why it's so hard to tell whether Faith is into someone or not. She flirted with my sister when they first met years ago and up until 3 months ago they were in a year long relationship. Not to mention how she flirted with my other boyfriends, one of which she actually did sleep with. So I can't be certain what kind of flirting was going on._

 _And it's not like asking Pike is an option. He may be coming back to town with us to help us deal with this serial killing demon, but I don't want to open up a whole new can of worms by implying that I might be jealous of whatever might be going on between them. Faith and I may have a history too, but it's because of the history that involves my sister that she won't jump to the wrong conclusion about why I'm asking. It's not jealousy, it's curiosity. Curiosity and weirdness._

The car passes a hitchhiker on the road but I don't stop.

 _Of course, maybe I shouldn't even bother worrying about what might be going on between them. What with the looming serial killing demon out there somewhere. Seems like that is probably better for first position in my list of things to do/talk about. Particularly since whatever it is probably wants to kill me._

I look over at Faith again.

"Something on your mind B?"

"What?"

"You just seem awfully interested in what I'm doing all of the sudden."

"It's... nothing."

"Good, cause I'd rather you keep your attention on the road so we don't swerve into a ditch or something."

"I'm paying attention, don't worry."

"I would hope so. You're the one with the habit of rising from the dead, not me, and I'm not exactly in the mood for picking up that particular habit of yours."

"I'll be sure to keep that one all to myself. Besides, if this demon serial killing thing has its way, I'll have plenty of opportunity to test out that one anyway."

"Well hopefully Pike can help keep that from happening."

 _There we go, the door is open._

"Let's hope."

 _Just bring it up already._

"So... what do you think of him?"

"Who?"

"Pike..."

There's a smile on her face at the mention of Pike's name.

 _Did I just get my answer?_

The smile disappears quickly.

"Seems okay. Not sure how well he can handle himself yet though."

"You don't think he can do the job?"

"I mean, he handled those two vamps well enough but this seems out of his league."

"Which is why he came to us."

"To you."

"Oh come on, he said he'd heard of you by reputation."

"Yeah but you're the reason he even knew about me in the first place. On account of your history."

 _I'm not sure what to say to that._

"Speaking of your history, you didn't really get into it and neither did he."

"Yeah, it's not something that I like to get into. Not even Willow and Xander know about Pike."

"Things ended badly?"

"Not exactly, they just kind of... fizzled."

"Fizzled how?"

"We met before Sunnydale, back at Emry. Right around the same time that I found out I was a slayer."

"And you two were lust bunnies?"

"Not exactly."

"Really?"

"He was interested, but I wasn't in any shape to get involved with anyone. Not only did I just find out I was a slayer, but my parents were in the process of splitting up. It really messed with my head."

"Harsh."

A silent moment passes as we drive along.

"So the two of you never..."

She doesn't finish.

 _Not that I need her to._

"Nope, we went on an adventure or two together and then he left."

We fall into silence together, continuing to drive.

 _I might as well ask._

"Why? Are you interested?"

"In Pike?"

"You two were punning up a storm last night. It was hard not to notice."

Another long pause happens between us.

"Would that be weird?"

 _In many ways._

"I guess, a little."

"Too weird?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"Are you thinking long term or short term?"

"I just met him B."

"Never stopped you before."

 _Crap, I shouldn't have said that._

Silence hangs between us for a long moment.

"I'm sorry, that was stupid of me."

Another shorter moment passes.

"It's cool, I get it. Truth is? I'm not in any condition to think long term for a while. I just need something to get my mind off of..."

Faith doesn't finish the sentence.

 _She still hasn't said my sister's name. I don't think I've heard her say it once since she left for college._

"So, is it?"

"Is it what?"

"Too weird if something happened between me and Pike. Even just for a while."

"Oh..."

 _As weird as it will be for me, I can't get in the way of her trying to move on. It would be bad for her, and for Dawn. The whole point of this trip was for her to have something other than my sister to focus on, and she got that. She worked through enough of her issues that she's actually considering moving on. And I have to let her._

"I'll be fine. It won't be the most comfortable, and I might have a problem if it becomes more than just a short term thing, but... I think I can handle it."

"You're sure?"

 _I have to be._

"Yeah."

I notice out of the corner of my eye that she's watching me for a while.

 _She needs a little more._

"If you think there's something between you and Pike, then I think you should go find out what it is."

Again she just watches me for a few more moments.

"You have my blessing."

More silence before she responds.

"Thanks B."

She goes back to staring out the window as we drive back home. I look over at her.

 _I'm glad that she's moving on. I'm happy for her. I have to be._

 **End of Chapter 11**


	12. Emerald Eyes

**The F in Pike Chapter 12**

Emerald Eyes

 _They keep making eyes at each other._

I glance over at Faith as her attention is drawn away from our slayers in training as they follow today's drill and towards our guest. They smile at each other.

 _And they aren't exactly being subtle about it._

Going back to the training in progress, Trina smiles as Faith walks past her but I don't think Faith notices. She's too busy watching Pike sit on the training room's bench.

 _Even some of the girls have noticed. Trina's definitely caught on but that may have more to do with her brother mentioning it then her actually spending time with both of them. Pike hasn't been around the girls all that much. He may be an old friend but I don't want him to see everything we have too easily. Not that he's given us any reason to be concerned. He's actually helped us out and gone patrolling with us. He seems on the up and up but you can never be too careful. I learned that hard lesson from Ford._

 _In the meantime, Faith's been doing her own type of "investigating". Not sure how in depth it is, but that's probably a good thing. I'm not sure I could handle the details._

My eyes shift between Faith and Pike while I keep walking around our trainees.

 _At least they haven't slept together. I'm pretty sure they haven't done that yet. Well, almost sure. Faith doesn't look at people she's slept with like that. I've seen the way she looks at people she's slept with and it doesn't look like that. It looks like her before face. I've been on the receiving end of her before and after faces myself and that's definitely a before face. Or it used to be. She's changed a lot since I last saw it personally, maybe the face she makes changed too but I don't think so. I could just ask her but I may not want to know the answer. She knows we have to be cautious. I explained it to her after our little talk in the car. I gave her the whole Ford story and even made sure she talked to Angel and Spike about it so she knew I wasn't trying to get in her way when it comes to Pike. I just wanted her to be safe. She seemed to take it well enough._

Pike smiles back Faith as they lock eyes again.

 _Though it doesn't seem to have stopped Faith from spending time with him. They've been on patrol together, I know that for sure. The three of us went together a few times but definitely not every time. So far there's no sign of whatever it is that's hunting me, but if history is any indication then it'll be coming eventually. Our girls need to be ready for it. I don't want this to be a repeat of our last big demon hunt._

One of the girls Faith's supposed to be watching throws a bad punch but Faith's too busy to notice.

 _Damn it._

"Stop!"

The whole class freezes at my command. Faith looks at me confused for a second before scanning the girls then coming back to me. I look in the direction of Marsha, the girl who messed up, but Faith doesn't notice.

 _Really?_

"Okay, I think we're good for the day. Go home and rest up."

Faith chimes in as the girls start to break formation and grab their stuff.

"You're gonna kick some serious butt the next time we go hunting ladies."

I walk over in Faith's direction where both our stuff is.

"They're looking good wouldn't you say B?"

"Good, but not great. They need to be better if we're going to beat this thing."

"They'll get there. I mean, you saw, they were solid today."

"How could you tell?"

She watches me for a second, confused. I go through my stuff as the girls continue to file out.

"What?"

I glance over in Pike's direction who is still sitting on the bench.

"Seems like you had your eye on something else."

"Hey I was watching, they were form perfect."

"You missed Marsha's last punch. In fact, you missed a few of the girls' form faults."

"Maybe, but I've never been the one to focus on that B. You're the one who focuses on form. I'm all about the field work."

"This is different."

My eyes go to Pike again for a second and he takes that as his cue to make his way over.

"You know that."

She sees my line of sight.

"B, you're still okay with everything right? We talked about this and you said you were okay."

"I also said it was going to be weird."

"What was going to be weird?"

We both turn to face Pike with our best attempt at 'everything is fine' face.

"Nothing."

"Just, slayer talk."

"Oh, anything I can help with?"

"Nope."

Faith makes a quick turn for another subject.

"So what did you think? Are you impressed?"

"With you? Absolutely."

They smile at each other awkwardly.

 _Not where I was hoping this would go. Time for another redirect._

"Of the girls. What did you think of the girls?"

"It looked good to me. Their form was pretty spot on."

"But it wasn't perfect."

"Maybe not, but I'm betting I would've gotten through a few fights over the years a lot easier with them backing me up."

"You survived it okay."

 _They're missing the obvious._

"They might not. None of them have the experience to deal with what's coming. You remember what happened with the Faraquad demon."

"Kind of hard to forget B."

Pike asks the obvious.

"What happened?"

"A demon a while back put me in a coma."

"And killed a few of our trainees. We can't let it happen again."

"We won't. This isn't like last time."

"You're right, we know even less about this thing, which makes it all the more dangerous. We don't even know when it's coming."

Faith puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry B, we'll get it."

A long silent moment passes and I look at Pike. He smiles at me before taking Faith's free hand in hers.

"And no one will be taking any kind of nap to do it."

My eyes go to their hands for a minute before I gently grab Faith's wrist on my shoulder in solidarity and then start to head out again.

"We'll keep training tomorrow. See ya then."

I turn and start walking to the door.

"See ya B."

"Have a good night Buff."

 _Faith needs this, and I have to be okay with that._

* * *

 _Faith needs this, and I have to be okay with that._

I trace my middle finger along the bicep and forearm of the strong arms holding me back and forth.

 _I knew that seeing them together would bug me, but it shouldn't be bugging me that much. There was just something about the way they were openly flirting with each other that got on my nerves. It might have something to do with the fact that the last time I saw her flirting with someone like that it was with my sister. Maybe I'm just having a hard time separating the two. But even that shouldn't have weirded me out as much as it did. I'm just not sure what happened._

"Tell me."

I look up at Derrick for a second before snuggling back up to him.

"Whatever it is, let me know. Is it Faith again?"

My hand flattens against his wrist and I keep rubbing it gently.

"You know me too well Derrick."

"One of the perks of being in... one of the perks of being your boyfriend."

 _He almost went there again. Should I say something?_

After a brief moment, he continues.

"I thought she was doing better."

"She is... I think."

"Is she still talking to you? Did she hurt someone?"

"No, she's doing pretty well. A little too well."

"Zero to sixty? You're worried she's faking?"

"Not exactly."

He takes a moment to think.

"What's up?"

 _I should just say it._

"I told you about Pike right?"

"The guy you used to know who came back? I remember."

 _How do I say this? I'm still not entirely sure what their status is._

"He and Faith... she and Pike..."

"They're seeing each other?"

I don't respond so he kind of takes that to mean yes.

"And you're worried that she's getting into a relationship too early."

 _I'm not sure that's it exactly._

"Sort of... I mean, we did kind of talk about it with each other."

"About her and Pike?"

"And her and Dawn... without actually talking about her."

"What did she say?"

I take a deep breath.

"That she loves Dawn, but she needs to move on. And I totally get it."

"It's why you went to Trentville on your slay-cation."

"Slay-cation? Really?"

"Seemed appropriate. And then she met Pike?"

"Yeah... and they've been making eyes at each other ever since."

"Sounds to me like she's moving on."

"I hope so..."

We fall into silence together.

"But you're still worried."

"More like, annoyed."

It takes him a second to respond.

"Annoyed?"

 _I hope he doesn't take it the wrong way._

"It's definitely bothering me."

"Do you mind if I ask... how?"

 _And now we enter the grey area._

"That's the thing, I'm not really sure."

He readjusts himself under me as he holds me.

"There was just something about the way they were with each other that didn't sit right with me."

We fall into a long silence together.

"Were you... jealous?"

 _Jealous of Faith?_

"Of Faith? No, I... Pike and I were never more than friends. You don't have to be worried about him."

"There's more than one person to be jealous of."

That makes me sit up and face my boyfriend on the couch.

"You think I'm jealous of Pike?"

 _That can't be what's going on._

"Well she WAS on your list when you and I had the ex talk. And given how much history you have with each other, it's kind of strange how she keeps ending up getting involved with people really close to you."

 _No, that's... it's not..._

"No, sweetie... I..."

He puts up his hands somewhat defensively.

"I'm not saying that you're into her. That'd be like shooting myself in the relationship foot. I really like being with you."

"I like being with you too Derrick."

"All I'm saying is that you were enemies for a lot of years after what happened between you, and just as you two were working things out and becoming friends, she got involved with Dawn. Maybe the problem is that the two of you never really had an honest conversation about what happened between you without something getting in the way."

 _He may have a point. The only reason it ever got brought up in the time we've known each other is because of Dawn._

"Maybe we do actually have to talk about it."

"Before this Pike guy becomes another reason not to."

After another long moment of silence between us, I slowly go back to lying down with him on the couch.

 _He's right. That's what's going on. I'm almost sure of it._

 **End of Chapter 12**


	13. Bringing It Up

**The F in Pike Chapter 13**

Bringing It Up

 _I just have to bring it up._

Faith and I set down an obstacle in the dojo and walk over to the next one.

 _It's not going to be the most comfortable conversation in the world but we have to have it at some point and Faith doesn't like when things are sprung on her._

Both of us pick up another obstacle to place in the room and walk to the next place.

 _Sometimes it's better to blind side her with things rather than give her a chance to get her guard up when it's something that she really doesn't want to talk about, but this isn't one of those times. I want to have a real conversation about it. That means bringing it up ahead of time. I just have to work up the courage to actually do it._

We set the obstacle down and grab a few more to start putting down the others by ourselves.

 _I haven't put a lot of thought into what happened between us myself. Senior year was a pretty big year for me. Coming back from L.A., trying to rebuild my relationships, the Mayor, not to mention everything that happened with Angel. A one night stand with what I can only describe as a co-worker at the time wasn't really high on my list. Then her whole killing people thing kind of took first position in things to deal with when it came to her. It just got buried under all the other history between us. I really need to think about it before we talk about it._

I head back over to where the obstacles are as Faith keeps setting up the ones she has, placing some more.

 _I mean, it was kind of my idea. I was the one who kissed her. I remember that much at least. It's the why that I'm not entirely clear on. That's probably the part that I need the most help with. That I need Faith's help with. Of course, I have to actually bring it up with her in order for her to help._

My eyes go to my wrist and find my watch.

 _I should probably do it before the girls get here too._

"Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to apologize."

"For what B?"

"For the way I acted the other day around you and Pike. I got a little crazy and it was wrong of me."

Faith sets down her latest obstacle and turns to face me so I set mine down and face her. She doesn't say anything though so I continue.

"I got a little carried away and I'm sorry."

She smiles at me a little as she keeps placing obstacles.

"It's okay, I get it."

 _She gets it?_

"You do?"

"Yeah."

 _What exactly does she get?_

"There's a crazy demon killing people with your last name. I'd be a little freaked out too."

 _Oh, right..._

"Yeah, that's definitely a crazy maker. It was in there for sure... but... I think there was something else."

"Like what?"

"I think... I was jealous."

That makes her stop setting up and turn to me fully.

"Jealous?"

"I know."

"Why would you be jealous of me? You've got a hunk all your own."

 _Okay, this is where I have to be careful._

"I don't think it was you I was jealous of."

It takes her a minute to respond.

"Oh, uh..."

"Look, I meant what I said way back when you and Dawn first got together. I'm not in love with you, and I'm still not. This isn't me trying to start something. But you and I never really talked about what happened between us back then. I think I just need to talk about it. Not now, obviously, but some time in the future. Maybe we could get together and talk."

Again there's a drawn out silence before she says anything.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, I mean, we can talk about it if you want. It was a long time ago B, I don't know how much I actually remember from before the whole prison vacation, but I can do that."

We fall into silence for a little while.

"Thanks. We should, find some time to get together."

"Sure."

Then without much more thought, we go back to placing obstacles for today's lesson.

 _I was right, I just had to bring it up._

 **End of Chapter 13**


	14. Nostalgia Trip

**The F in Pike Chapter 14**

Nostalgia Trip

 _There's nothing to feel weird about._

I stand in my kitchen, trying to figure out if I'm missing anything.

 _It's just two friends getting together to talk. She and I talk all the time, this won't really be any different._

My eyes scan the kitchen, in case something catches my eye that I forgot.

 _Except for the fact that it's a conversation between two friends who have slept together getting together to talk about how and why they slept together, it's a completely normal conversation. At least, I think it's a normal conversation. It's not the type of conversation that I've really ever had before, so there's that. But it happens all the time on TV from everything that I've seen. It probably doesn't happen on TV if it didn't happen to regular people._

Nothing really catches my eye and that makes the thought that I have forgotten something even worse. So I go back into the living room to look around at what I've already set up.

 _Of course, Faith and I are hardly normal people. Aside from the whole slayer thing, which is an entire issue in and of itself, our history hasn't exactly been the smoothest of roads. It's fair to say that it's actually been pretty rocky. Oh, wait..._

Turning around and going back into the kitchen, I head right to the fridge and open the freezer, finding the rocky road ice cream.

 _I should probably... no, no, Faith's not really an ice cream person. I should leave it where it is unless she wants it._

I close the freezer door and go back into the living room to go over what I've already laid out.

 _I kind of wish that I could leave the conversation we're about to have where it is. This isn't something that I like to spend a lot of time thinking about, or talking about it. Which is why I never really brought it up before I saw her with Dawn. I guess seeing them together forced me to think about it, even if it was subconsciously after dealing with that whole situation so I didn't screw things up between them. And now I have to figure out a way to deal with it._

I sit down on the couch and look at what's on the table in front of me. There's a six pack of beer that's started to warm up since I took it out a few minutes ago, a bunch of chips and popcorn and other snacks.

 _I think this will work. It's not suggestive of anything other than two friends getting together to talk. After talking with Derrick yesterday, I wanted to make sure that I'm not being suggestive in any way. I don't want to accidentally give her the impression that it's something that it's not. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I was clear with her when I brought up the subject in the first place, but I don't want her to show up to candles or low lighting or wine and cheese or something. This isn't meant to be anything more than just a talk between friends about their history._

My head turns as I hear a knock at the door.

 _Here goes nothing I guess._

Getting up, I walk over to the door and stop before opening it.

 _Let's hope I don't screw it up._

After a few moments, I open it to see Faith standing on the other side.

 _Well, she definitely didn't assume it was a date._

"Hey B..."

"Hey..."

She's wearing loose fitting clothes, a t-shirt and pants.

 _Compared to what she normally wears when she goes out slaying or clubbing, this would be conservative for her._

We stand in the doorway together, not sure what to do next.

"If you want, we can just talk out here. Although I'm not sure how your neighbors would feel about that."

 _Oh, uh..._

"Right..."

I take a few steps back and let go of the door so that she can come in. After a couple seconds, she follows me inside. She closes the door behind her.

 _Might as well ask._

"How are you?"

She doesn't respond right away.

"Uh, good, I guess."

I make my way over to the couch and sit down.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, why?"

As I sit down, I turn and see that she's followed me, taking off her coat in the process.

"Just checking... I mean, we've had some pretty heavy conversations recently. It'd be okay if you weren't doing good."

Again she doesn't say anything right away before finally sitting down.

"I'm as good as I can be. Is that better?"

"If it's the truth."

"As true as I'm comfortable with."

 _Maybe this was a bad idea._

"Look, Faith... I know that this was my idea and I made it a bigger deal then it should be. If you're not up for having this conversation, we don't have to."

Faith looks over what's set out on the table in front of the couch.

"But what about everything you did. I wouldn't want to put you out."

I look it over myself.

"Well, we can just hang out. No heavy conversations, no heart to heart or bringing up the past. We can do it another time."

She takes a couple minutes to think about it.

 _I guess I didn't put as much thought into where she was at with everything._

"No, it's cool B."

 _It's cool?_

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... we never really talked about it so maybe it's time. Let's just..."

She pauses for a moment.

"Let's not jump right into it."

"Easy does it. Got it."

We fall into a silence together.

 _Well this isn't awkward at all._

My eye catches the six pack and it's like a light goes off in my head. I reach over and pull one of them out before handing it to Faith.

"Easy does it?"

She smiles at me before taking the beer from me. Then I reach for my own as I hear her pop the beer and I do the same. Both of us pause for a moment with our beers open. I extend my beer towards Faith as if to toast each other.

"To easing into it."

My friend and business partner gets the idea and extends her beer, letting us cheers.

"To easing into it."

We both drink.

 _It feels good to be able to do this with Faith. To not have to worry about each other or anything else for at least the moment. Worrying will come in later, I'm sure of that. But for the moment, everything is good._

She's the first to speak.

"So... what do you want to talk about then?"

* * *

"No, I think Sierra just needs a little more time to get it."

 _Wait, what?_

"If she has any more time she's going to get seriously hurt."

"Exactly. And she'll learn from that and then she'll get it."

I let out a deep breath of frustration as we sit on the couch together.

"I know she's one of your advanced students that you've taken her under your wing, which I totally respect, but I don't think I'll ever understand why you let your students get hurt like that."

"I'm all about learning from experience B, you know that."

"And I get that, but you seem particularly interested in failure as a teaching moment. There are other ways to get experience."

"Yeah, but failure tends to have the most impact, if anyone should understand learning from failure, it's us."

 _When she's right, she's right._

"We definitely made our fair share of mistakes."

"And from what I hear, that didn't just start when I came along."

 _From what she hears?_

I set down my third empty beer on the table as Faith nurses her fourth.

"What do you mean?"

She doesn't respond right away to the question, taking a sip of her beer. I get up, walking over to the fridge to get another beer out of it.

"Pike was nice enough to tell me the Emry story, and its sequel Slayer goes to Vegas."

 _He did? Damn it..._

"That was a long time ago."

Opening the fridge, I pull out the next six pack in case we need it and head back over to the couch.

"Yeah, and you learned from that and didn't do it again."

 _Right..._

"Except for the fact that I also burned down Sunnydale High."

 _Wait, she's not suggesting..._

I stop just before sitting back down on the couch, looking at her.

"Faith... tell me you're not encouraging Sierra to burn down her school."

She throws up her hands defensively.

"Whoa, don't worry B. There are no visits from the nice people at the arson department in our future. Trust me."

"Okay, good..."

 _I know she'd never do that, but it's fun to tease her about it._

After setting the six pack down, I sit back on the couch facing her as we've been doing for the past hour or so.

"I'm just saying, bad experiences can be just as helpful as good ones. God knows I've had some bad experiences in my life."

"Many of which you were the cause of."

She doesn't respond to that, looking at her beer.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have said it that way._

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be judge-y. You and I worked all that out a long time ago. I made my fair share of bad mistakes over the years myself."

"And some good ones from what I hear."

 _What does she mean by that?_

Looking at her, she's got something of a smirk on her face.

 _Does she mean...?_

"Faith, Pike and I... we never..."

"Oh I know... he and I had that conversation after you and I did. But Spike had some choice words about you before he kicked it."

 _He what?_

"He was short on details but big on suggestiveness."

 _Damn it Spike..._

"What did he say?"

"Just that you were a little less prim and proper then I remember."

 _Then she remembers? Is that a signal for us to start talking?_

"Spike and I..."

Her hands go up defensively.

"Not judging B. Just glad to hear it. Although... what's your obsession with people named after phallic objects?"

I can't help but chuckle a little at that and so does she.

"I have no idea."

She doesn't respond to my half-joke half-statement.

 _I definitely think that was a signal. Maybe I should come out and say it?_

"Probably just as weird as my tendency to go after people with religious sounding names."

Neither of us really laughs at that.

 _I should just come out and say it._

"For the record though... I don't think of what happened between us as a mistake."

"You don't?"

 _Wait, does she feel differently?_

"No... I mean, I feel bad about how things changed between us afterwards. I know I handled it badly, in that, I didn't handle it at all. I just tried to ignore it. To act like it never really happened. And that was wrong of me. You deserved more than that. We both did. Maybe if I did, things wouldn't have happened the way they did between us."

"B, we talked about this..."

"I know... after Sunnydale we spent weeks talking about what went down. We talked about Finch and The Mayor. We talked about Riley and the whole body switching incident. We talked about L.A. and the Watchers Council and Angel and how he helped you. We even talked about Ms Post and Kakistos."

"And you know, that it wasn't all your fault. I was in a bad place long before I ever met you. I made my own choices and most of them were bad ones. I owned up to my part in all of it."

"You did, and I owned up to the fact that I gave up on you too quickly. That I didn't see or even try to see you as more than just competition for everything that I had. Even when I was trying to help you, part of me was still holding on to the idea that you were in my way. I was a lot more selfish then I had any right to be."

"We've been through all of it B."

"You're right, but the one thing that we never even tried to talk about was that night."

She doesn't respond to that right away.

"You're right."

I look directly at her and eventually she looks back.

"Things were never the same for us after that night."

Faith takes a deep breath.

"I'd have to agree with that."

"I'm not entirely sure why. But I think part of it may be the fact that we were slayers. You remember how we talked about the slayer that came before you?"

"Kira right?"

"Kendra..."

"Oh, yeah, sorry..."

"It's okay. She... she and I had a very weird relationship. We were... I guess the best word for it was... co-workers. We could've been friends but we didn't know each other long enough to cross that bridge. Even with how long we knew each other though, there was something else going on with us."

"But she died before you figured out what it was."

I can't help but pause for a moment to remember Kendra.

"Yeah..."

 _So many years and it still hurts some times._

"And then you came along..."

We both pause for a moment.

"And I started to feel it again. I didn't know what it was exactly, but it was powerful. It was a good feeling too."

"But with everything that was going on with me, Angel being back, trying to get my friends to talk to me again, plus Scott and all that... I think my wires got crossed. I thought it was something it wasn't. Or maybe it was, I don't know."

"I think it was something."

 _She does?_

I stay silent, waiting to hear what she means by that.

"I never had much growing up. I never felt connected to much. No real family and I didn't get along with people at school when I tried to go. I gave up on that pretty quickly. And then I became a slayer, which somehow made me feel connected. But my watcher dying made me realize just how quickly that can be taken away. But that feeling you're talking about? I know what you mean... I felt it too B. It was like this, weird, tingly feeling. Every time I was around you, I could feel it."

 _That's exactly how I felt..._

"So it wasn't just me."

"It wasn't just you B."

 _She was having the same feelings that I was?_

"So when I... kissed you?"

It takes her a second to respond.

"I was just as into it as you were."

We fall into a bit of a silence together.

 _Should I ask? I kinda want to ask but I'm not entirely sure if I want to know._

"Did you...? Did I...?"

She looks at me, not sure what I'm asking exactly.

"Was it... you know... good?"

There are several long moments where she just looks at me before a smile starts to come over her face.

"Yeah, it was... why?"

"I just... I don't know... it was only the second time I'd ever had sex and the only time I ever..."

I have to stop myself from finishing that thought.

 _That's probably not the best way for this conversation to go._

Something about the way her mood shifts tells me I was right to stop.

"I guess I was wondering if I... got the job done."

Again she doesn't respond right away, almost as if she isn't sure about the answer. She shifts uncomfortably.

"You did."

 _I did?_

"Really?"

She smiles for some reason.

"Trust me, you got the job done."

 _Oh... okay..._

Faith asks the obvious question she deserves to.

"What about you? Did I get the job done?"

 _Oh, uh..._

"You definitely did. Probably... more than once."

That seems to piqued her interest.

"More than once?"

 _Maybe I shouldn't have said anything?_

She gets a bit of a smirk on her face.

"How many times?"

 _I really shouldn't have said anything._

"I, don't really know... it was like 5 years ago."

She watches me for a while, a questioning look, as if she doesn't really believe me. I take a deep breath.

"Three times, at least..."

Her smirk gets a little bigger. It makes me feel flush.

"Seriously?"

I don't really know what to say to that so I don't. Eventually I just shrug. That has her responding.

"I guess I'm better than I thought."

Again I don't know what to say to her right away.

"I guess so."

We fall into a bit of silence together for a while.

 _But was it...?_

"What about...? When... after we...? Did it...?"

 _I'm not exactly sure how to say this._

"After that night, I..."

"Didn't feel it anymore."

"Yeah..."

 _I don't know why, but hearing her talk about it going away like that kinda bothers me. Why does it bother me so much?_

After a while, I try to continue.

"I think that's part of why things changed between us. Whatever it was that brought us together, wasn't there anymore. I mean, obviously the whole killing people and trying to destroy the town was a huge part of it too, but I think that... "

"That's when things changed."

"Yeah."

"I felt that too. It's why I... wasn't there in the morning."

That makes me shift on the couch.

 _I always wondered about that. Why she wasn't there. We did it at my place. There wasn't any reason why she couldn't have stayed._

"It was?"

She's the one who shifts uncomfortably this time.

"I woke up and... whatever it was... it wasn't there anymore."

It takes me a second to look at her again.

"Is that why you didn't wake me up? Why you didn't stay the night?"

This time it's her who takes a second to look at me.

"Mostly, yeah... I mean, it wasn't the first time I'd ever done it. It was kind of a pattern for me back then. Either I'd leave or kick them out."

 _Not that I would've wanted her to be there in the morning in case Mom or my sister walked in or saw. I didn't know how I felt about it all or what it meant about me until later. I didn't need my family asking those same questions._

"Looking back, it's not something that I'm proud of. Maybe if I'd stuck around a bit more I would've been able to connect with them and wouldn't have felt so alone. Robin was the first person to really show me what connecting really looked like. Not that it lasted that long. Maybe if I hadn't left the second I woke up, you and I could've figured out what happened. Things might not have gone the way they did."

 _I can't let her think that way._

"Honestly Faith? I was so messed up at the time, I'm not convinced that it wouldn't have made things worse. I couldn't have admitted to what happened without screwing up my whole life. My mom and... my mom was still coming to terms with my being a slayer. I don't think I could've added anything else to her list of things to deal with without hitting a breaking point, and we'd already had one of those with the whole slayer thing. What's worse is that I realized later that it wasn't something that I was interested in... women I mean. So even if we had dealt with it..."

"It probably would've ended badly."

"Yeah... I'm sorry."

"It's cool B. You're right. I probably wouldn't have admitted that it happened even if you'd tried. As messed up as you were... I was worse."

For a while, neither of us says anything. Eventually she's the one to speak.

"Well aren't we a pair?"

I can't help but smile at that.

"Yeah..."

Again we fall into silence together.

 _I think this was good. We actually talked things out._

"Feel better?"

 _Hmm?_

"Yeah... you?"

She seems to think about it for a second.

"Yeah..."

"I feel like we really cleared the air between us."

"Me too... I know I wasn't big on this whole thing at first but... I think it was a long time coming."

 _I'm glad she feels that way._

"Definitely."

"So we're good?"

 _I think we are._

"We are."

She smiles before getting up slowly.

"Cool. I think I'm gonna head out."

 _She is?_

I get up to meet her.

"Really? I mean... you don't have to."

"I think I should. The walk down memory lane has been fun but also kinda intense."

 _She's right about that._

"You're right."

Silence happens again and I'm not really sure what to do at first.

"Well, good night."

Then without thinking, I reach out for a hug, wrapping my arms around her. She does the same pretty quickly. All of the sudden, there's a spark between us.

 _What the heck is that? It's like that feeling I had before but a lot more intense. What exactly am I trying to tell myself?_

Eventually we pull back but not fully, my hands still on Faith's waist, looking into each other's eyes. The look in her eyes tells me she's just as uncertain about what's going on as I am.

 _Oh crap... I think I know what it is._

The feeling intensifies and I feel this need to act on it. So I do, I lean into Faith and kiss her. At first she doesn't react but that quickly ends and she kisses me back.

 _My god, was it like this before?_

I break the kiss and look at her. She looks back and it's like I can see the same uncertain intensity in her eyes. Neither of us says anything to each other. Suddenly, she reaches for my head, grabbing it and pulling me into a kiss. It's even more intense then the last one and both of us are a lot more into it. I can't help but grab at her shirt a little, mostly just pulling it out before letting my hands move to her back, pulling her towards me so that our bodies press together more. She does the same before eventually we break for air. Again we look at each other, the look on her face telling me that neither of us are entirely sure what we're doing or why.

 _Whatever this is, it's not going away. It feels even more intense then before. Like electricity is going through us both._

Without much thought, I turn myself so that Faith is between me and the couch we were just sitting on and kiss her again. After a while, I pull away long enough to put both hands on her shoulders and shove her backwards onto the couch. She looks up at me from her now sitting position on the couch, this need in her eyes that I can feel in myself reflected at her as I look back. We watch each other for a second before she reaches up and grabs the belt on my jeans, pulling me towards her. The momentum gets too much and I climb up onto the couch on of top her with my knees digging into the couch on either side of her thighs.

 _I don't know why I'm doing this exactly, but it feels right. Like I need to do this. Like I need her right now._

I get right up against her on the couch, looking down at her as she looks back.

"I really want you right now."

Faith licks her lips before responding.

"I know the feeling."

She reaches up with one hand and grabs the back of my head, pulling me down into a kiss. It's even more intense then the others and I can't help but get into it, using both hands to grab the back of her head and push the kiss further. I start to grind myself into her lap while her hands start to explore my body over my clothes. Her hands move to my ass, gripping it firmly through my jeans and it pushes my hips forward into her stomach. Eventually, air becomes an issue and we break the kiss.

"You have learned a thing or two B."

That puts a grin on my face as I feel her hands move up slightly to tease the skin just under my shirt with her thumbs. I reach down to the hem of my t-shirt and grab it with both hands.

"More than two F."

Then in one quick motion I pull my shirt up and over my head, letting it gather on my left arm before throwing it away, exposing most of my chest except for what's under my bra. She looks me over for a few moments and then a grin forms on her face. Suddenly, she grabs me by the hips and lifts me off the couch but not long enough for me to react as she immediately throws me, back first, down onto the couch. Within seconds she's on top of me, brushing herself against me ever so slightly before kissing me deeply.

 _Damn..._

Each new kiss seems to push my buttons more and more. My hands start to explore her clothed body, running them along her sides and then along her back, grabbing her shoulders and digging my fingers into her a little bit. It makes her break our kiss. Not long after, she pushes herself up to sit back on my legs. She reaches down to the hem of her shirt, grabbing it firmly and pulling it over his head. Just like I did a second ago, she throws her shirt away as it pools on her right arm and I look up at her equally almost naked torso.

 _God she's stunning... I mean... wow... I always knew she was beautiful, but damn... I never noticed this..._

I sit up quickly, getting right up against her as I pull her face to mine, into a kiss. Our newly naked skin brushes against each other as she sits on my lap with her legs on either side of mine and the kiss intensifies. My stomach keeps brushing against her as our breathing gets heavier. It sends tingles of excitement through me as things intensify, making me use my right hand on her neck to move its way down her body, over her shoulders and along her collarbone. With my fingers, I start to trace them along her collarbone, dipping down slightly to between where her bra covered breasts begin before quickly going back to the collarbone. That has her breaking our kiss and throwing her head back in a gasp. Eventually she actually looks at me, putting a small amount of distance between our bodies.

"Damn B..."

A smile forms on her face.

"You weren't kidding."

That puts a grin on my own face.

"Told you so."

Her smile turns to a grin before she leans in again, but not for a kiss. Instead I feel her hot breath in my ear, whispering into it.

"I've learned a thing or two myself."

Faith's words send more tingling excitement through me, especially when she starts playing with my ear, using her lips and tongue.

 _Damn..._

A moan escapes my closed mouth as I bite my lip and lean into her, which she seems to take as her cue to move her way down my neck and shoulder. It makes me lean into her more but she uses her hands on my shoulders to keep most of herself away from me except for her hands and her lips, which are moving down along my own collarbone.

 _I really need to feel her body on mine right now._

My hands move to feel her exposed skin in whatever way I can but her hands quickly move to grab my wrists, keeping me from touching her as she pulls back with much more of a smirk on her face. Then, without warning, she pulls my hands above my head so my wrists are together and she pushes me onto my back, her own body coming with me, my wrists against the arm rest of the couch.

 _Did she really just do that?_

She pulls back again while keeping her hands around my wrists firmly against the arm rest.

"I'm not done yet."

Almost immediately, she leans in and starts kissing my collarbone before starting to move down.

 _So that's how we're going to do this are we?_

As she gets down to just above where my tits begin, she lets go of my wrists and it isn't long before I bring them down to touch her back. But as my arms get below my shoulders, she reaches up, without stopping the kisses she's placing along my chest, and grabs both of the straps to my bra over my shoulders and pulls them down along my biceps. Instinctively, I bring my arms down to my sides and she pulls the straps to my elbows, essentially trapping my arms at my sides unless I want to stretch or rip my bra, which I'd rather not.

 _Damn it..._

Looking down at her, I see a smirk on her face as she keeps up the kissing which is sending tingles through me.

 _Okay, if you want to play it this way, I'll play along for a while._

She starts to use her tongue in her kisses as she moves her way down between my breasts, keeping her kisses away from on them and more on the space between, occasionally touching them ever so slightly with a kiss. It has me squirming to participate. Watching her from my position, she finds her way to the clasp of my bra. Her eyes find mine for the first time since what could probably be described as her order. There's a grin on her face and I can't say that I blame her.

 _This is really freaking hot. It's hitting me in all the right places._

The grin on my own face must have given her the go ahead because she flicks at the clasp of my bra with her tongue, licking the skin under it in the process. It sends tingles through me. Not long after, she takes the clasp in her mouth and I watch as she seems to play with it in her mouth.

 _Is she really...?_

Her hands touch the cups of my bra, pressing slightly against it, slightly kneading my breasts underneath. Faith pushes my breasts together over my bra and the clasp comes undone with her teeth. She then pulls the cups apart, exposing my tits to her, which she immediately starts moving to with kisses from between them. Each new kiss has me shifting under her, feeling every kiss and not really being able to do anything back. Her hands grip my tits, massaging them as the rest of her pulls back to a sitting position.

"Damn B... you're even hotter than I remember."

My eyes can't help but travel over the body of the woman above me with a smirk.

"Benefit of experience, F."

As if she knew where my mind was going, her hands leave my breasts and move up to her own.

 _This might be my chance._

When her fingers start to play with the front clasp of her bra, I make my move by sitting up and starting to kiss her collarbone. This makes her fumble with her bra, struggling to get it open and giving me enough time to finish taking off mine and throwing it away. I move up to her neck and that has her throwing her head back at the sensations no doubt going through her. Eventually, the clasp of her bra does come undone and she starts to take it off but as she does, I reach behind her back where her arms are and grab her wrists, keeping them far enough apart that her bra gets caught around her elbows. I pull back to look at her and our eyes meet. She's not entirely sure what's going on as I smirk.

"My turn."

That makes her start to smile and I lean into her, partly to kiss her but also to encourage her to lean backward onto the couch, making sure to keep anything but our lips and my hands on her wrists away from each other. Faith does as silently instructed and it isn't long before her shoulders and neck are pressed against the couch's arm rest, her legs bent backwards so that she's sitting on her heels. Her arms are also pinned partly by her own body and by her bra around her elbows underneath her. As I pull back from her, I can't help but look over the stunning creature in front of me.

 _I don't think there's a word for what I think besides..._

"Wow..."

She squirms on the couch, not sure what to do with herself.

"You like?"

Again my eyes move over her body. From her strong but smooth shoulders, to her toned yet soft arms, to the beautiful and supple mounds on her chest, not to mention her flat stomach that is rising and falling a little deeper with every couple seconds that I look her over.

"It's hard not to."

I move into her, making sure that there's just barely skin to skin contact between us as we kiss again. She does her best to kiss back from her rather restricted position.

 _It's not as fun from the other side is it?_

Then I start my way down to her jawbone and her neck, placing kisses with tongue much like what she was doing to me every so often. What I'm doing to her has her squirming as I keep moving lower down her body, focusing on the sensitive skin of her tits, getting closer and closer to her nipples as I switch between the left and the right.

 _She seems to respond more when I tease the right one. I guess I have my opening._

Moving over her right tit again, I pull back just enough to hover over her nipple, letting my heavy breathing do most of the work of driving her crazy. Faith tries to push her nipple into my mouth but I keep my distance before completely switching sides and wrapping my lips around her left nipple and sucking on it, using my tongue. That has her thrusting upward into my mouth, desperate for more touch but I only grab her by the belt and hold down her hips, making her squirm even more as I keep it up. With my eyes on her, watching her squirm beneath me I let her tit pop out of my mouth, giving her a little bit of relief. She lets out a deep sigh of relief before trying to catch her breath.

I don't let it last long though as I move quickly to her right one and start sucking on it, sending her surging again quickly into my touch. My tongue swirls around her nipple before flicking it a couple times. Then I move down, placing kisses along her underboob and her ribs towards her belly button. Looking up at her, I see her watching me, every so often her muscles flexing or her arms moving in a desperate attempt to get more involved. It makes me smile as I stick my tongue into her belly button, wiggling it, and it makes her chest rise and fall quicker and heavier.

 _I think it's time to take things up a notch._

I keep kissing around her belly button, making her moan and squirm more, but that stops when my hands start to play with her belt. Our eyes meet and I can't help but enjoy the look of desire in her eyes as her belt buckle comes undone and I pull it apart then pop the button on her jeans, loosening them. She smiles at me as I let my fingers curl between the waistband of her jeans and the smooth skin of her thighs, making sure not to touch her panties. A grin forms as I tug at her jeans, letting skin be revealed. Then as I do it again, I sit up to look her over. While my eyes are enjoying the sight before me, she pulls herself up to a sitting position, giving her the opportunity to finally lose her bra that restricted her. Immediately she grabs my face and pulls me into a kiss and I return it with as much passion.

One more tug on her jeans puts them right where I want them on her thighs, so I lean into her and grab her uncovered ass, squeezing it firmly and making her moan into our kiss. Shifting my legs out from sitting on them, I use my grip on her ass to hoist her onto my hips before grabbing her kinda restricted legs and wrapping them around my waist. She breaks our kiss and the look on her face tells me she's about to ask what I'm doing so I twist my body so she's sitting on my legs away from the back of the couch and stand straight up, essentially keeping her suspended around me. Then she finally manages to say something.

"Fuck..."

"That's the idea."

Again my hands go to her ass as she wraps her arms around my shoulders. We kiss as I lead her towards the bedroom, but I don't watch where I'm going and slam her up against a pillar in the room, making her throw her head back and gasp. Thankfully, I wasn't using my slayer strength and the pillar doesn't break so I use the opportunity to plant kisses along her neck and collarbone. Our naked skin presses together as I hold her up against the pillar with my body, her legs around my waist. Pulling my head back, our eyes meet for a few seconds before we start kissing again, our tongues playing with each other.

 _She's so fucking hot right now, pushing all the right buttons._

My hands feel the need to leave her fantastic ass, exploring her body more. They move up her sides and play with the sides of her tits that aren't pressed up against my own. It makes her gasp, ending our kiss. I let me hands move back to her still covered thighs, gripping them firmly as I pull her away from the pillar, keeping her suspended as I carry her towards my bedroom. She shoves the door open with one hand as the other grabs the back of my head and pulls me into another kiss, the intensity of which has me off balance enough to thrust her up against the door frame on our way in. Within seconds we're at the foot of my bed. I let go of her legs and as they unhook themselves from around my waist she starts to get her legs under her while still being restricted by the waist of her jeans being around her thighs. I stand back from her, enjoying the sight of the half naked woman before me.

Faith moves a little bit towards me and I use the moment to grab her by the shoulder with one hand and her hip with the other, spinning her around so she's facing away from me. Immediately, I press myself against her back, bringing my arms up to grab her tits from behind, massaging them and kissing her neck. That makes her lean back into me, her head back over my left shoulder as I continue down her neck to her naked shoulder. Slowly, I move her forward so that she's right up against the end of the bed and her contact with it makes her fall forward, exposing her naked back and panties covered ass. When she manages to get her barrings from what just happened, she looks back at me from her position, an excited grin clear on her face.

"Whatcha gonna do B?"

Rather than respond right away, I unbutton my own pants, opening them up enough so that I can pull them down and step out of them while still leaving my panties on as well. Then I start climbing up onto the bed on top of her.

"You'll see."

She just squirms under me as I reach forward, pushing between her shoulder blades and getting her to put her head against the sheets, turning her head to the right, the grin still very much on her face. I then use both hands to wrap her hair up and put it to her left side so it's not in the way of anything she might be able to see. It exposes the back of her neck and I lean down and kiss it, very slowly making my way down to her shoulder blades and her shoulders. She squirms underneath me as I keep getting lower and lower, taking a long time to get anywhere as I start not only kissing her skin but giving it a few teasing licks. As I take a long slow lick between her shoulder blades at her spine, I bring my hands up to under her biceps and guide her arms up so they're above her shoulders. A shiver runs through her as I finish my lick and I can't help but smile.

"You like that?"

"Mhmm..."

 _A non-verbal, looks like I'm getting somewhere._

Slowly, I move down her toned, muscled back, alternating between kisses and short licks. It isn't long before I get to where her back meets her ass. I place a kiss on her tailbone as my hands move to her pants around her thighs, pulling them off. That has her back arching and leaning on her elbows to look back at me. Her pants come off and I drop them on the floor. Quickly, I lean in and grab her ass with both hands.

"Mmmm..."

"I've always liked your ass. It's really nice."

My right hand lets go of her ass cheek just long enough to slap it before grabbing it again. It makes her twitch just a little bit before grinning back at me.

"Kiss my ass B."

 _I guess I leaned right into that one._

Leaning down, I spread the thumb and forefinger on my right hand enough to plant a small, short kiss on her ass cheek.

"Oh, fuck..."

 _Such a sweet sound._

Almost immediately, I move to her left ass cheek, kissing it a little more firmly. It makes her moan. I enjoy the feeling of her firm, toned ass in my hands as I grip it with my fingers more tightly. That has her gasping and twisting her hips to look at me more directly.

"You're really freaking good at that B."

She moves to turn over underneath me and I let go of her ass. Just as quickly, she sits up and grabs my head, pulling us into a kiss. I'm so into the kiss that she grabs me and flips me onto my back, her half on top of me.

"But I'm better."

Again she leans in and we kiss, deeper and more passionately then the last time. I break the kiss.

"You think so do you?"

That puts a grin on her face.

"I know so."

"Prove it."

Suddenly, I feel her tongue playing with my ear which has me squirming.

 _She IS good... I don't usually feel this good, this quickly._

As she moves her way down to my neck, adding kisses every so often, I feel her right hand's fingers tease their way up my left leg. The feelings it brings out in me forces a moan out of me. Within seconds of it though, her thigh pushes itself between mine, opening my own legs so she can press her thigh against my core. Her kisses get lower and I feel her rubbing up against me with her lips and tongue playing with my collarbone. What she's doing rubs her thigh up against my core, making me rub myself back into her.

A rhythm starts to build up between us as she keeps up the kissing and licking. A gasp escapes my lips as her hands move up to grab my right tit, massaging it. She moves her way down, kissing and licking where my chest meets my tits. Her body slides its way down mine, the building sweat between us making it feel good when her thigh becomes her hip. It isn't long before her lips and tongue are playing with the skin between my tits. Every so often, she teases my left and right tit by flicking her tongue at the sensitive skin that connects my chest to them. When she gets to just above my stomach, she takes a long lick right between my tits.

That has me squirming as I feel a wave of pleasure like electricity flow through me to my fingers and toes.

"Oh... fuck..."

I'm so caught up in the sensations that it's only when I come down that I notice she's moved up so that we're face to face.

"Told you I was better."

Before I can answer, she kisses me deeply and that only builds on the feelings I was having before. Very suddenly she ends the kiss, moving down my body.

 _Damn, she is really good at this but..._

"You're good, but I can do better."

Getting my wobbly arms under me, I pull my head up to my elbows before trying to get up on my hands. Her hand on my stomach stops me though.

"Wait..."

I can't help but look down as her other hand slides its way up my left leg, stopping where my inner thigh meets my hip, her thumb grazing my inner thigh, very close to my panties. It makes me inhale sharply, a devious smile on her face.

"You haven't seen my best work yet."

She pushes against my stomach while her thumb keeps teasing. The tingling her thumb is doing to me makes me do what she wants and drop my head back down to my mattress. Almost immediately, I feel her lips against my lower stomach. Her kisses go from closer to further away from my panties. Lying down between them, I open my legs enough for her to do it. When she does, her lips start teasing down my left thigh. Very quickly, she switches to my right thigh and kisses her way up it towards my core.

 _She's really going to do this._

Then, she places a kiss right on my panties. It causes another wave of pleasure to run through me and I inhale sharply before slowly letting it out. That doesn't last long though because she reaches forward and pushes my panties to the side, exposing my lower lips to her. Before I can react, she flicks her tongue out, tasting me and the wetness that has been forming for a while and sending me into another intense wave of pleasure. Not wasting any time, she dives right in, licking and kissing and sucking at my most intimate folds, pushing the feelings it gives me more and more intensely.

 _Oh, wow... she's... damn..._

Every touch of her tongue has me tingling, the pressure building with each lick. It isn't long before her tongue starts to make me squirm. She keeps up what she's doing to me, using one of her arms to wrap around my leg, holding my hips down that I can't stop moving because of what she's doing with her tongue. The pressure builds even more as one of her fingers plays with my clit.

"Oh... god..."

My back arches as I can't keep in the feelings she's bringing out in me. Muscles start to tense up all over and I can feel what's coming.

 _I don't know that I can hold out much longer than this. She's... I... wow... I'm gonna..._

Almost as if she can feel what's coming, her licking and sucking intensifies, pushing me to the limits of what I can take.

"Oh... god... oh... fuck... I... Faith... I'm... god... I'm gonna..."

With the pressure too much, every muscle in my body tenses up in an explosion of pleasure.

 _OH... MY... GOD!_

It's like every part of me is on fire in a way that I've never felt before as the climax washes over me. After what feels like a long time, I start to come down off the high she brought out in me. When I do, I notice Faith has moved her way up so that we're face to face. A big grin on hers, I can't help but smile back.

"Told you I was good."

That puts a smile on my face.

"You've made a very convincing argument."

We kiss and I taste myself on her lips. As our kiss deepens, my right hand moves its way down her side, getting a firm hold on her while my left leg wraps itself around her right leg. Without giving her a chance to react, I break our kiss and then use my right hand to push her away while my left leg holds her down, flipping her over onto her back with me quickly getting on top.

"I think I can make a better one though."

The grin on her face widens with a little bit of curiosity in it.

"You think so do you?"

My smile turns into a smirk.

"I'm sure I can."

Before she can answer, I kiss her deeply, pressing myself against her as I do to get as much skin contact as we can with the sweat between us making it easy to rub up against her. She moans into our kiss as I push my thigh up against her core. Our kiss deepens as I keep up my rubbing against her, my own core feeling her thigh between my legs. The kiss breaks when I can't help but groan at the feelings that my rubbing up against her is giving me. She responds with her own audible gasp with the way we're moving together.

Leaning forward, I start kissing my way down her body, starting with her jaw before moving lower to her neck. My tongue gets in on the fun and that has her squirming even more under me where our thighs keep up the rubbing. I take a long lick of her neck and that has her gasping, then I move my way down to her collarbone, placing kisses and licks along it as I move from her left shoulder to her right. Pulling my body partly off of hers to get a better position has me audibly exhaling, then I move back to her collarbone before moving down to her chest. With every kiss and lick I get closer and closer to her tits. As I do, I start to alternate between the left and the right, avoiding her nipples as I place a lick on one before kissing the other and then switching. The teasing increases as I get closer and closer to her nipples.

Then, without warning, I wrap my lips around her right nipple and suck, playing with it with my tongue at the same time. What I'm doing has her back arching into my touch, an audible gasp escaping her own lips as mine step up their sucking, causing even more moans from her. My tongue flicks at her nipple as my right hand reaches up, palming her left tit and massaging it. That has her really squirming so I bring my left hand up to hold her shoulder down, keeping her from moving too much as I continue to play with her nipple in my mouth. After a few moments, I let it pop out of my mouth and I can't help but smile at the way she reacted. Not letting her moans stop, I quickly switch breasts, palming her right tit while my lips wrap themselves around her left nipple.

Again she surges from the bed but I'm holding down her left shoulder to keep her steady. As my tongue plays with her nipple, I curl the fingers of my left hand, teasing her right tit even more when I avoid the wet and very erect nipple I was just sucking on. I let her tit pop out of my mouth just as I flick her right nipple with my index finger before playing with it between my thumb and index, much to her obvious and vocal enjoyment. Before she can come down from it, I play with her right nipple while I take a long lick of her left breast, licking her nipple in the process. That has her hips grinding against mine more, our thighs rubbing on our cores, the wetness coming off them obvious. While still using my left hand to play with her nipple, I move myself down her body and start kissing her stomach.

As I get closer to her bellybutton, I move my right hand up to play with her left nipple teasing both at the same time. She can barely hold in her moans and groans as I stick my tongue into her bellybutton the way she did to me and that gets her really going. With her squirming under me, I let go of her tits but keeping my tongue in her bellybutton before kissing and licking around it and holding her down by my left arm. After a little while, I pull myself back from her, sitting up to enjoy the sight of her stunning form in front of me.

 _God, she's so hot. I'm not sure how I didn't really see it before._

Just as she starts to slow down her squirming, I lean forward again, sliding my body along hers as I do until we're face to face. We kiss passionately and it builds as the kiss continues, both of us knowing what will happen next.

 _I guess I'm really going to do this._

Our kiss ends and I can't help but smile at the look of need and anticipation on her face. Leaning forward like I'm going to kiss her again, I pull back quickly and dive back into her neck, kissing and licking it with as much enthusiasm as the kiss. Quickly I move down her body only barely slowing down to tease her nipples before moving to just above her panties. She shifts as my kisses and licks tease the thin waist of her panties, starting to use my teeth to pull it away from her skin and letting it fall back. Not long after, I reach up and curl my fingers around the top of her panties, pulling them down and off her. Her hips lift as I peel them off her, giving me the go ahead to take them off completely.

It isn't long before I pull them off her feet and throw them across the room. Then I look down at her long, slender and yet powerful legs, bent at the knees so her feet are planted firmly on the bed. My eyes find hers as she looks at me with a bit of a smile and I can't help but smile back. After a while, I reach out and grab both of her knees and slowly pull them apart, opening up her most sensitive area to my view. Part of me can't help but lick my lips at the reveal of her lowest ones. When her legs are open enough, I lean in and slide my way up her body. The touch of our skin sliding against each other with the sweat between us makes my body tingle.

I tease her again by leaning in a couple times before quickly pulling back a little more each time when she moves to help me. It makes her grin a little so I put a hand on her chest and push her back down onto her back. Immediately I start moving down her body, barely touching her until I get close to her core. Looking up at her from just below her hips, I can't help but enjoy that little bit of desperation in her eyes which she's trying to hide.

 _Oh come on, you know what's coming._

With a grin on my face, I look down before placing a long, slow kiss just above her centre. Almost immediately, I start placing kisses around her most sensitive lips without actually tasting them as a sweet but musky scent suddenly hits my senses.

 _Mmm, that smells good. Has she always smelled this good?_

Pulling back slightly, I notice the wetness in front of me while I lie down on my stomach between her legs on the bed. For a few seconds, I look up at her as my hot breath hits her lips and it makes her squirm a little. The sight of what's before me makes me lick my lips and reach forward with my fingers on my right hand, playing with her folds. She moans at the touch, making me go a little further, letting my fingers explore her most sensitive area. Leaning forward, I take my first taste of her core as I stick my tongue out and lick her pussy.

 _It tastes as good as it smelled._

Again I lick at her folds, getting a second taste. Her reaction of an audible gasp has me pushing even further, both playing with her folds with my fingers while tasting her again. Every new reaction makes me go a little further, explore a little more. My exploration helps me find her clit and that really starts to get her going. It isn't long before I can feel the pressure start to build in her and I know what's coming. As I keep playing with her lips and using my tongue against her clit, she really starts to squirm and roll her hips. I wrap my arm up under her thigh and hold her down as my arm presses down just below her hips. Slipping my index finger into her pussy really gets her going and I feel her walls clenching against my finger.

Our eyes meet from where we are and the look on her face shows me the pure pleasure she's feeling. The pressure builds even more when I step up my licking and thrusting my finger into her. We get into something of a rhythm and that only makes the pressure build more and more, faster and faster. I put a little more strength behind my arm holding her down as she starts really moving her hips at what I'm doing. Her hips move more and more as I get faster and faster with my thrusts and licks. When her knees tense up so her feet are just below my shoulders, I know she's getting close. Intensity builds with every second that passes, so I lean in more, really sucking on her clit. That pushes her over the edge and she surges off the bed, arching her back.

"God... fucking... damn..."

Part of me can't help but enjoy the way she looks when she explodes. I lift my head to watch as she starts to come down from the high I've just given her, every muscle in her body slowly releasing. Eventually, she looks at me with a smile.

"Damn B... you weren't lying."

I move my way back up the bed and we kiss, her tasting herself on my lips. As we kiss, I can't help but feel exhausted from everything we just did. The kiss finally breaks and I can see the expression I'm feeling in her eyes. Then I roll over and lie next to her on the bed. After a few long moments, I look at her and smile back. We keep watching each other and it's like a wave of exhaustion comes over both of us. We drift off to sleep.

 **End of Chapter 14**


	15. Walk of Shame

**The F in Pike Chapter 15**

Walk of Shame

* * *

Light hits my face and I can feel myself waking up. I turn my head away from the light and squirm, enjoying the warm feeling of my bed. My arms stretch out and I'm suddenly well aware of the colder side of the bed and the lack of someone in it. I open my eyes and I see Faith sitting on the other end of the bed, putting on her bra.

 _Is she leaving?_

"Faith?"

She turns her head slightly for a second to speak before continuing to get dressed.

"Hey B..."

 _It definitely looks like she's leaving._

"Are you... leaving?"

"Yeah... I kinda think I should."

 _I should say something._

"O-Oh, okay. I mean... you don't have to."

 _I'm not even sure I want her to stay, but I don't want her to think that I want her to go._

"I appreciate that B, but... I'm not sure staying is the best idea."

 _She doesn't?_

I pull myself up to a sitting position on the bed, watching her as she doesn't really make any attempt to look at me. She stands up and puts on her shirt.

"You don't?"

"If I stay, we'll end up talking about it and... I don't really know how to feel about what happened last night. I don't want to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing and turn it into something that it's not. I just... I need... time to figure it out."

 _Well at least we agree on something._

"If it helps, I have no idea what happened last night either. I think... waiting to talk about it is probably a good idea."

There's a long silence between us.

"Okay, good. I just... I didn't want to do to you what I did before. Leave before you wake up and leave you wondering. That... I don't want to be that type of person."

Part of me feels this need to reassure her and I lean towards her but she takes a step away from the bed, still not looking at me.

"Well, you're not. You... I don't... no matter what else might be going on or what we need to talk about, I don't see you that way."

Another long silence stretches out between us.

"Thanks..."

Neither of us is entirely sure what to do or say, so we don't for a long while.

"I'm... gonna go."

She starts to make her way towards her bedroom door to find her pants.

"Okay..."

When she gets to the door, she stops.

"I'll see ya later B."

"Yeah... see ya."

Then she walks out into the apartment.

 _What the hell was that? I don't really know how to feel right now. I mean, last night was really intense. Probably the most intense thing I've ever experienced. Except I have no idea where any of it came from. I just... had a feeling and felt the need to follow it. The last time I felt anything close to that was probably when we were together before._

 _So what made it happen this time? Nostalgia? I mean, we did spend a lot of last night talking about the past, dealing with whatever made it happen last time. Maybe it triggered something in us? Is that why I never wanted to talk about it before? Because I was worried it would happen again? What's going to happen the next time we see each other? Will that feeling still be there?_

 _It definitely doesn't feel like it did before just now. I didn't feel like something was gone when I saw her just now like I did when it happened a few years ago. But I didn't feel the same as last night. I didn't feel the same type of need that I did last night. It was different. I felt... something, but I have no idea what it was._

 _It's not like anything I felt after things happened between Angel and I, or Riley, or Spike. I guess I'll have to figure it out before we see each other again later._

The apartment door opens and closes and I know she's gone. I can't help but relax a little at the idea that she left so quickly. I just sit there on the bed, not sure what to do next. Not long after, the phone rings. I watch the phone as it rings for a while before leaning toward it and looking at the caller ID.

 _Oh god... it's Derrick. What the hell do I do?_

* * *

My cell phone vibrates in my pocket as I watch the class in front of me go through the motions.

 _I should turn the vibrate off on my phone. It's kinda distracting me from watching the girls. Besides, it's not like I don't know who is calling. He's been calling pretty much all day. I know I should probably pick up but I wouldn't know what to say._

I look across the dojo at my business partner, her eyes focused on our students form and strength.

 _It was his idea for me to talk to Faith. He thought I should get things out in the open with her about what happened between us... and then something happened between us. How the hell do I tell him that? Should I even tell him? Maybe it was just nostalgia like I thought earlier. If it wasn't anything more than that then maybe I don't have to tell him what happened. We got caught up in the moment and it wasn't a big deal. It doesn't have to be anything more than that._

She looks my way and I immediately go back to watching the girls.

 _But what if it wasn't just a moment? What if it was more than that? This is the second time it's happened between us after all. Maybe something's happening between us? Except that, I've never really thought of Faith that way. I've never really thought of women that way. It's never been something that I wanted, I've only ever thought about men that way. I've only ever really gotten turned on by men, and yet this keeps happening with Faith._

 _Is there something more between me and Faith then friendship? Why wouldn't I have felt it before now? Did I feel it and I just chose to ignore it? Or did it only happen because of how close we've been getting? All those heavy, emotional talks we've been having might have made something happen that wouldn't have happened otherwise. We just got confused about what was happening between us. We confused friendship for something more and just reacted to it? Why did we take it so far then?_

I look in her direction to see if she's still looking and I catch a glimpse of her looking before she goes back to focusing on the girls.

 _We've been doing that a lot today, catching each other for a split second and acting like we weren't looking. I can't help but wonder what she's thinking. Whether she's as confused as I am about what happened last night. It seems like she is from the way we were talking this morning, but we've both had time to think about things since then. Maybe she knows what she's thinking now that she's had time to think about it?_

 _She does have more experience in this area than I do. She's actually done this type of thing before. She's had these types of feelings before and knows how to deal with them. What if she knows what she wants? What if what she wants is me now? What if she has actual feelings for me now? Could I feel the same way about her? Do I even want to feel that way about her? I have no idea._

My phone stops vibrating.

 _Thank god he's working tonight and won't be picking up his sister. I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to have a conversation about what happened last night with him. I can't give him any of the answers he'd no doubt be looking for if he knew what happened between me and Faith. And he does deserve answers._

 _He's been a good guy and a great boyfriend in the time that we've been together. He's been super understanding about everything that I've been dealing with and I've just added an entirely new thing for me to have to deal with and it could seriously affect him. He deserves someone who actually knows where they're at and what they want, and right now that's not me. I can't just tell him that I cheated on him without an explanation that makes sense._

Her eyes find mine for a second and I look away again like we've been doing all day.

 _And that means actually talking to Faith. Maybe I can catch her when class ends in a minute and we can talk about when we can talk. I'm pretty sure we both want to after everything that happened. Not to mention it was kinda implied after this morning that it was going to happen eventually. I'm not sure I can really wait that long to have this conversation._

I look up at the clock and notice that it's almost time to end the class. I stop where I am.

"Okay everyone..."

Faith looks at the clock, then at me and nods.

"That's it for today. We'll see you all again tomorrow."

Our students break formation and start to pack up to leave. I can't help but stare a little at Faith as she looks back at me.

 _I should just go and talk to her. Get the discussion started at the very least._

A small hole in the students between us opens up and I start to make my way over there.

"Hey I..."

I get a couple feet away and Pike comes up to Faith.

"Hey Faith..."

He notices me as I stop.

"Buffy, how did it go today?"

He puts his arm around Faith and they share a short kiss. I can't help but squirm a little as they smile at each other before turning to me again.

"I think it went pretty well, don't you B?"

It takes me a few moments to respond, watching Faith for most of it.

"Yeah, they did a good job. No really big concerns."

"That's good, we may need them if this demon thing actually comes looking for you here."

 _Right... the demon..._

"Any word on that?"

"Not yet, they seem to have gone dark, although that's not all that surprising. I've been going through some of the reports and whoever is after you looks like they take a few breaks."

"You think they're working on something new?"

"It's possible, or they could be stalking their next victims. You should keep a look out."

"Don't worry, I'll be safe."

I turn to Faith.

"Could I...? I... uh... could I talk to you for a second?"

She looks between Pike and me for a moment.

"Uh, sure B. Give us a second?"

"No problem."

We walk away from Pike and find a place where most of the girls have already packed up.

"So... how are you?"

She shifts uncomfortably for a second.

"Okay, I guess... you?"

"I'm... you know... okay... I think..."

"This is weird, right?"

 _That's understating it._

"Very..."

A few moments pass where neither of us says anything.

"So... I was thinking... I'd really like to have that conversation we didn't have this morning at some point."

"Yeah, we probably should. Although I'm still kinda confused to be honest."

That makes me smile a little.

"You're not the only one."

"I could probably use a few days to work it all out still."

 _A few days? I'm not sure that's a good idea._

"And if things were different I'd be on board with giving it to you. But..."

"But what?"

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take a deep breath and let it out.

"Derrick's been calling. I talked to him about us having that conversation we had and he's going to ask how it went."

A sudden wave of guilt comes over her.

"Oh... right..."

"I know we could both use some time to figure it out, but I'm not sure I can have a conversation with him and not tell him. He deserves that. I just... I have no idea what to say."

"What if... we came in early for work tomorrow and talked?"

 _Tomorrow?_

"I could make tomorrow work."

"Okay, let's do that."

I can't help but look in Pike's direction.

"Are you gonna tell him?"

She looks at him too before we turn back to each other.

"I don't know. I mean, we just started seeing each other and we're not really thinking exclusivity yet. That and, well, the history you have with him... I... I don't know."

"Maybe we could talk about it tomorrow?"

"Okay, great. See ya then."

 **End of Chapter 15**


	16. Impulse Control Problem

**The F in Pike Chapter 16**

Impulse Control Problem

 _There's nothing to feel weird about. All we're going to do is talk._

Slipping my key into the lock of the dojo, I unlock the door and go inside.

 _Of course, that's what I thought about the last time we got together and that didn't end the way I expected. Nothing about that night was what I thought was going to happen. Not that anything that happened was bad exactly. It was actually good... more than good. I really liked it actually. It was definitely different then things I've done before. Not like being with a guy at all. Something about it just felt a lot more sensual, more intimate. Like we were more in tune with each other than anyone I'd ever been with._

I go into my office, set down my gym bag and sit behind my desk.

 _Faith and I have never been in tune or in sync or whatever the other night was might have been. We've pretty much never agreed on anything, which has always been a big thing for me when I sleep with someone. Angel and I were definitely in sync long before I gave him my virginity. Riley and I felt in tune when we slept together. Even Spike and I could sense each other's pain and took comfort in that when we had sex. The more we did it, the more in sync we got._

 _But it's like the other night Faith and I just clicked all of the sudden and had to have each other. Almost like some outside force wanted us to be together that night while at the same time it was completely my choice to go there with her. As if I could stop at any time if I wanted to but I never felt the need to stop. Things just kept escalating between us until we were both satisfied. And I was definitely satisfied by the end of it._

 _Except today, nothing about what happened feels satisfying exactly. I don't regret it but I also don't feel like it was something we should've done. There's no guilt or shame like I felt with Spike, only I feel like there should be because of how I treated Derrick. I should feel guilty but I don't. And I don't feel the kind of deep connection to Faith that I felt with Angel after it happened despite him losing his soul. Or the kind of normal girl feeling I got after being with Riley. I feel... okay with what happened... I think._

 _I honestly have no idea how to feel about what we did that night. Which I guess is why we're getting together to talk about it. We just won't jump each other like we did last time._

The door to the dojo unlocks and someone comes in.

 _I hope..._

"Hey B?"

"In here!"

Looking around the room, I can't help but feel a little weird at the idea of doing this where I work.

 _Maybe somewhere else would've been better... or at least some other room?_

I get up from my desk and head for the door. She and I almost run into each other as I do.

"Oh, uh... hi..."

She smiles at me.

"Hey..."

I go to hug her and she steps back, making me stop.

"Maybe that's not such a good idea."

 _Right... that's how we got into this in the first place._

"You're right, I'm sorry."

That seems to make her feel bad.

"Crap, no... I'm... I'm sorry. I just... I don't know how to react to any of this."

I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

"Neither do I. I didn't expect any of this to happen."

"You weren't?"

All I do is shake my head, which makes her get this curious look on her face.

"Cause that's not the impression I got when you kissed me."

Her comment has me take another deep breath.

"I know, it's just... can we? Let's find somewhere to sit down and we can talk?"

She looks around as if trying to figure out where to go.

"How about the gym?"

 _The gym? That could work. It's a nice neutral place without any baggage._

"Sure, let's do that."

We head into the gym. Faith sits on one of the weight lifting benches and I do my best to get comfortable sitting on one of the bicep workout chairs. Things quickly fall into a strange kinda silence between us.

"So, where do you want to start?"

 _Start?_

"Well, I don't know... maybe we should start with the obvious. How are you?"

Another long pause finds itself between us.

"Okay, I guess. I'm... confused mostly. I don't really know how to feel about what we did. Except that I feel guilty."

 _She feels guilty? Why does she feel guilty?_

"You do?"

"But not for what we did exactly. More because of what Dawn will think if she ever found out."

"Oh, god... Dawn..."

 _I didn't even think about how Dawn would react to all this. I just slept with her ex. How could I not have thought about my own sister?_

"I spent a lot of our relationship convincing her that there wasn't anything going on between you and me. And I did that because there wasn't anything at the time. I've never felt that way about you despite the moment we had back in Sunnydale. But Dawn was always worried that there was and that both of us were just hiding it from her because she and I were together. Only I wasn't hiding anything from her, and I felt that way right up until you kissed me the other night."

"And yet we slept together that night."

More silence for a moment.

"Honestly Faith? I don't really know why I kissed you. I've never felt that way about you, or women at all really. I still don't, even after the other night. It's like nothing even happened. When I asked you to come over and talk, it never occurred to me that something would happen between us. All I wanted was to deal with the one thing that neither of us talked about and resolve any unresolved issues. I honestly thought that talking about it would let me deal with them and move on. Now I don't know what to think."

She reaches out touches my shoulder. The second she does, that feeling from the other night comes back. A sudden need to be with her. I look at her and it's like the look on her face tells me everything I need to know, but I ask anyway.

"Do you... feel that?"

"Yeah..."

The feeling starts to get more intense and I pull away and so does she. All of the sudden, the feeling stops. After a fair amount of silence, she asks the obvious.

"What the hell is that B?"

I give the only possible response I can.

"I have no idea."

 _This could be a bad idea, but I have to know._

Reaching out, I put my hand on her knee and that intensity comes back like a rush. Immediately, I pull away again and it's gone. Our eyes meet again and she doesn't look like she has any more idea than I do.

"What's going on?"

She slumps over, running her hands through her hair.

"It doesn't make any sense... unless..."

 _Unless?_

"Unless what?"

Eventually her eyes find mine again.

"Do you think it could be demonic?"

"What kind of demon?"

"I don't know... Pike said that this demon serial killer thing had gone dark. Maybe this is why?"

"But... why? What would this thing gain by making us attracted to each other when we touch? Where's the strategy in that?"

"No idea... maybe... to throw us off our game? Keep us thinking about each other instead of whatever it wants to do?"

 _I guess that makes sense but..._

"Why us? Why target us like... this?"

"Not sure... maybe we should talk to Red? Or the G-man?"

I can't help but sigh as I run my fingers through my hair.

"That's not gonna be awkward at all."

"I'll do it. Red already knows about the first time, and we're not as close as you two."

 _Maybe that would be better... but Willow wouldn't appreciate it if I didn't tell her myself. She might understand but it'd be better coming from me._

"No, I should tell Willow. Get her working on it with as little outside help as she can. I don't want this getting around."

"Aww, gee, thanks B..."

 _Crap, why did I say it like that?_

"That's not what I..."

I look at her and the smile on her face makes me stop.

"I'm glad we can find the funny in this."

She shrugs.

"Someone's gotta. You're right though, Dawn has a lot of friends in Cleveland. I can't take the chance that she might hear about it from one of them."

 _Which pretty much leads to the obvious question._

"Should we... do we... tell Dawn about this? What happened?"

My question leaves a long silence between us before she speaks up.

"I don't know. I think... it depends on what it will do to her. I haven't heard from her since she left. I have no idea how or what she's thinking. It could really destroy her even if one of us did tell her."

"You're right... we might not even make it to the how or the why before she did something we'd all regret. We need to do everything we can to keep her from finding out until we know what's really going on. Maybe if we fix it before she finds out, we won't have to tell her."

"Yeah but when have we ever been that lucky?"

 _She's got a point there._

We fall into a bit of a silence for a while.

 _There's only one part to figure out left then._

"So that just means I have to figure out what to tell Derrick."

"What are you gonna tell him?"

"I have no idea. I mean... I have to tell him. If I don't bring it up, he's going to. It was his idea for us to talk in the first place. I can't just avoid it. He's really intuitive, if I keep it from him, he's going to notice."

"Do you think... he'll break it off?"

I can't help but take a deep breath.

"I wouldn't blame him if he did. I cheated on him."

"But it wasn't your fault."

"We don't know that yet. I can't expect him to just wait around to find out if his girlfriend meant to cheat on him or not. It's not fair to him to ask him not to have feelings about what I did until some magical tests happen."

"So don't tell him, like with Dawn. Wait until we know something at least before saying anything."

"And do what? Lie to him?"

"No just... don't say anything about it until you're sure how to feel."

I feel this need to stand up and pace back and forth about her idea.

"I-I don't know if I can do that."

Faith gets up and reaches out, grabbing my shoulders. Suddenly, the feeling between us is back.

"B, you gotta..."

Our eyes meet and it's like we can't help ourselves. She grabs the back of my head, I grab hers, and we kiss. As our bodies meet, the kiss deepens and we start to grab at each other. My hands move to her sides, pulling our hips together and making the feeling between us intensify. I slip my right thigh between hers as my hands slide their way to her ass, gripping it firmly. That makes her moan and I almost can't help but smile at the look on her face. Stepping forward, I push her into the seat of the bicep workout chair and try to climb on top of her.

During the struggle, the door to the dojo opens and the sounds of our students talking and laughing hits us both. We both freeze, and then immediately pull apart, her getting up from the chair as I step back to straighten up.

"Damn it..."

She looks at me.

"I'm sorry B, I shouldn't have..."

I put up my hands to stop her before going back to straightening out my clothes.

"It's okay, I get it. It wasn't you."

Smoothing out my clothes one more time and making sure my hair's straight, I look at her.

"You good?"

She takes a second to look herself over.

"Yeah, I think I'm good."

"Okay..."

I give the room a once over just in case we knocked anything over but it looks fine.

"Time for class."

We walk back into the main part of the dojo.

 **End of Chapter 16**


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